@cannabissequoia and yeah… LA traffic! Sometimes to go 5 miles across town takes 45 mins! I hate driving here! I call the traffic “Sunshine Tax” lol
Have you ever been to Norco? It’s all cattle farms. Stinks. The really sad part is when you drive through, you see a million cows on nothing but dirt fields. They certainly can’t graze. Who knows what the hell they feed them.
Cooperative Extension is always a good resource in most places. The bigger the area the better it is. They are usually the ones that are the most tuned in to local pests, problems, and solutions. I’m sure you won’t be the first one to tell them about the earwigs. Maybe they have a good answer.
I found some earwigs under a brick on some black plastic that’s covering my dirt. So I flung the lot of them onto the center & they cooked in under a minute in the sun. It’s about 75F today.
So…
HEAT & sunlight fry your nemesis of the hour.
Maybe try clear plastic & ‘solarize’ areas where you can.
So far, I can’t see any new damage since puffing down the DE, but it’s hard to tell as so many things were already munched. Most of my French Vanilla Marigolds are gone and I don’t have any replacement seeds. That’s a bummer. My nasturtiums are barely hanging in there, some new lemon basil sprouts are up and it’s still early so crossing my fingers that they don’t get these. I kinda wanted huge basil so I could make a bunch of pesto in the fall, but I suppose I’ll see how I feel by the time they are rooted out if I want to risk it and put them back directly in the garden or in pots. What’s the point of all that land if I can’t grow in it though. Just gonna have to spend ridiculous amounts of time applying and reapplying DE. Found just a few fuckwigs (their new official name) in the traps. Read somewhere to give it a week. Hopefully by then all the creepy crawlers have slid along the DE and died. Got my blue zebra primrose for the shade and planted it. It came as a plant already so I’m worried it will die too. So far the ones they have shipped me like that have. A ruby penstamon and 2 violets croaked once I planted them. It’s always a crap shoot. Flowers are forming on my Ranunculus. The fuckwigs have yet to find the planter with the prized lilac bush, Ranunculus and Papavers. I did DE them anyways. As far as the Dahlias go, the leaves are all shredded but the biggest one has flowers anyway. Only the largest tubers on the chain sprouted and now it looks like the smaller ones have come through. Maybe I’ll get some nice plants out of those after my voodoo dance and sacrificial chicken @cannabissequoia lol
Nice thing about Basil is you can plant it later, too, especially in pots. Growing it early is good if you will make the pesto then, but mine always bolt for seed before I know it and it’s more bitter then. It freezes well, too… mouth is watering because I didn’t make any last year.
I think I’ll put out some small Molasses traps around when I get planting and see what shows up. Probably the bears, now that I think about it. Nix the molasses trap around here. Crap, I would never be rid of them if they thought molasses was around here on occasion…
I think basil clones well, too, can’t remember. I’m just geting into the cloning this year for a few reasons.
Maybe you’ll get ahead of the fuckwigs now. I wonder if they hatch in large numbers like other insects. You know, if you knew then you could make sure you wait a few weeks to plant or something. I would get Japanese Beetles like that in another region where I gardened. And, some years not so bad, others worse. But it only lasted a week or two.
Best Wishes corralling your 'wigs! peace
Well shit ! @mesh maybe take a trip down by the river at night and do some toad hunting and get them into your garden maybe bird feeder to attract our feather friends maybe they might be interested in Fuckwigs if ya show them what’s in the menu! Sorry your having so much issues with them !
This brings up a good question sometimes large plagues come and go in cycles did you notice many last year or do you think that everybody in the neighborhood is hearing that the lady down the block has a smorgasbord out back to dine on?
I truly believe that it is just weird natural occurrences. If the weather is just perfect or something. About 6 years ago, I remember clearly it was in May we had an earthquake that shook the house pretty good, followed by a heat wave. Suddenly and I am not exaggerating millions of little black bugs started falling out of my roof by my back door. I’d never seen anything like it. It was biblical. These black things eventually sprouted wings. It happened on a Friday and the exterminators couldn’t come until Monday. My neighbor and I were freaking out. They were resistant to household bug spray. I remember calling Dad and telling him and him saying “I understand” and me replying “No, trust me, you don’t. You have to see this shit”. Anyway, I think the fuckwigs are just a thing this year. We just came out of a 5 year drought and had a shit ton of rain, maybe a lot of the eggs had been lying dormant for years.
I had read their life cycle is hatch in spring and hatch in summer. So I’m screwed unless I am persistent. As far as Japanese Beetles go @GMan I saw 3 last year, but pulled out quite a few grub worms when I was tilling the veggie patch this year. Crossing my fingers that I got most of them. I don’t need a flying beetle invasion this year too! Ugh!
I’ve really heavy years of those damn flying millers (moths) and grasshopper also!
I threw the grubs to my dog who plays with them…i thought she’d eat’em but i think they bite back! Pinky sized, gnarly things with blood red mouths…mmm. 
But look for your earwigs(they hang out together) under mulch or stones/planters etc., they hate light & heat…hot sun cooks them quick.
And the candles… 
I think you’re right about the right conditions. That’s normally the reason for a large outbreak like that. The perfect storm for them to thrive. Keep beating them back and maybe in a couple of weeks they’ll back off. I hope so! I’m not sure what more you can do.
peace
Have you tried looking into predatory bugs to help manage these wigs ? May be an option ?
This isn’t Africa …she’d need mammals or birds for these things… like a Skunk & a few Guinea fowl to make her neighbors love her. 
I always thought of them as helpful until now Ma’am has me paranoid & annihilating them. 
Yeah was thinking wasps or something but yeah bit too big for mantis I guess. Read that some people use vegetable oil in bowls around their garden, they climb in and drown. Also says they like the damp dark places so maybe removing any mulch for the moment and letting things dry out could help. They say you can place damp newspaper around the yard in the afternoons and the wigs will migrate to it … then scoop it up the next morn and burn the suckers … sucks you’re having this problem… I think I’d just burn my whole garden hahaha
I suggested toads , they have fast reflexes to gobble those fuggers up!
I have this picture in my mind of @Cannabissequoia peeking out of her closed curtains at all of the giant insects, small rodents, invertebrates, giant birds, etc., all scurrying around in their new yard (zoo). *cue jungle sounds
If I ever go to Meesh’s I’ll be in the yard. 
is securely 
OOps, I got you two mixed up. I meant in Meesh’s yard… good thing I just loaded another bowl, I must not smoke enough. sorry… blush I was reading your thread about her problem and tyed your name… jeez, stoners
@Tinytuttle When I was a kid a lot of the neighborhoods around here were still undeveloped. Us kids used to go up the street after the rains and catch frogs and tadpoles. Won’t find anything like that around here now 40 years later unfortunately.
@Sunvalley the neighbor behind me has a swimming pool and gets a lot of wasps that like to come over and kill my bees. I don’t really know what the predatory type are like, but they sound scary in the city. When they start selling lady bugs and praying mantis sacks though, I always buy some. Doesn’t guarantee they are gonna stick around though. The wind pulled up quite a bit of straw mulch which I didn’t put back yet. It does seem to help but I did just spray spinosad, planted oil/soysauce traps and puffed DE everywhere. Between my 3 way assault I haven’t noticed any new damage so not sure what’s working, but something is. Already some fuckwigs in the traps, but not as many as I thought, however it’s only been 2 days since I dropped the traps.
@GMan You’re cracking me up! I envision Jumanji in my yard. Honestly, I’d prefer a pot belly pig or other zoo animals I can pet. lol
Oh you might be surprised I think of toads being more nocturnal than anything!