Do earwigs eat hydrangea buds?

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rteets Stroudsburg, PA(Zone 6a) Jul 03, 2013

My Endless Summer hydrangea does not have a single bud on it. It has bloomed for the last three of its four year life. I have pretty much eliminated the normal reasons for not blooming. The only thing I can see on this very healthy looking plant are earwigs in every place a bud should be. There are tiny new leaves that are untouched so I didn't give it a thought but now I wonder. Is that possible?

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Jul 03, 2013

I wouldn't be surprised. Earwigs eat quite a range of tender things, and buds (leaf or flower) ought to be tender enough for them.

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DonnaMack Elgin, IL(Zone 5a) Jul 04, 2013

It's weird. I went out one morning and found 20-30 earwigs sleeping amongst the buds of my lilies. Disgusting sight, but, oddly, they didn't bite them. I shook the buds and the earwigs were flung to the ground. I checked every morning afterwards for a few days, but they didn't come back.

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rteets Stroudsburg, PA(Zone 6a) Jul 04, 2013

It certainly has been a unique experience for me. There are the tiniest of tender leaves growing and they look untouched. I can't really say that they ate the buds as I haven seen any buds but maybe they ate them very early on? Anyway, I sprayed with soapy water and they didn't come back last night but it might be too late for this year. That might not even be the reason. A mystery.

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