Are earwigs beneficial to my garden?

Though they may eat some unwanted garden pests such as aphids or mites, earwigs also eat plants, flowers and decaying compost materials, making them a net loss for the garden. Earwigs will chow down on ornamental plants such as dahlias and roses, and they'll also snack on fruit and vegetable plants such as lettuce, strawberries and beets.

In addition to impacting a gardener's produce crop, earwigs will also turn their omnivorous tastes to mulch and compost, making them a pest in the compost pile as well as the garden itself. The earwig's beneficial attributes as a means of pest control are mostly outweighed by its ability to make a pest of itself in the flower or vegetable garden.