When I saw "Vivians" photo of what the earwigs were doing to to her Day Lily's, I decided to join on as a member to this site-"National Gardening Association", although her post and photo was dated back some years back, I was SO glad to see that she lives in Southeastern Michigan and I'm more in the Northeastern Michigan,,The post of the yellow Day Lily;s is EXACTLY what the heck is happening to my yellow ones and my maroon ones. I'm known in our family as having an AMAZING GREEN THUMB; which I'm really proud of...but this earwig issue is really upsetting as I'm getting maybe 1 Lily to bloom out of 5. The rest look exactly what her photo shows. I don't know what to do. So, I'm now very proud to be a member of "The National Gardening Association. I hope to resolve this issue with these dang earwigs. Not only are they creepy looking, but they're DESTROYING my Day Lily's; as us Michiganders have a good 2 more months to enjoy our outdoor flowers:whether they are annuals or perennials. Looking forward to the Newsletters and help with this dang issue. Happy Gardening to All and I'm excited to be a new member!! Thankyou, Amy

Sadcow7girl,
Here is an internet article that you might find helpful.
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/...

I have seen a few earwigs in the daylily blooms this year but they haven't been too bad.

I have seen more earwigs than usual, but other than their poop, which is annoying, they haven't done a lot of damage.

There are some good suggestions for trapping them in the article posted above. I have also used a spray bottle with soapy water and squirted them. The soap and water solution kills them.

With daylilies, it will help clear up the problem quickly if you take the old blooms off each evening. I don't see earwigs any more since I began live heading old blooms each evening.

Yes, early in the season, try to deadhead regularly, and livehead if possible. Earwigs can do a lot of damage. I do find that they are less bothersome later in the season, perhaps because of the increasing strength of the sun.

@floota and @mantisOH: Liveheaders of the world, unite! Yet another great reason not to deadhead. I don't really reason other than avoiding the slimies, though.

If you're a photographer, you probably like to take pictures early AM to avoid the bright sun. That was the original reason I began taking blooms off at night, to have a fresh palette each morning. I haven't seen earwigs here for years.( but have noted them in other people's gardens)

Where do I see a picture of Vivian's damage? This is what I have seen on many of mine and called it earwig damage where the color is eaten off? Is this earwig damage? I live head every night but still have lots of this, especially on the dark colored ones

In my yard, grasshoppers love to eat the surface layers leaving light spots

Raven said:Where do I see a picture of Vivian's damage? This is what I have seen on many of mine and called it earwig damage where the color is eaten off? Is this earwig damage? I live head every night but still have lots of this, especially on the dark colored ones

• Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Pigment of Imagination')
• Uploaded by Raven

That could be earwig damage, often there are droppings in the flowers where they have been and it looks like there may be in your picture. In my garden the eaten surface patches tend to be larger. Usually some flowers will have earwig bottoms sticking out of the daylily throat in the early morning. I used to go around zapping the ones in the flowers with a squirt bottle of insecticidal soap, it made me feel better but didn't do much to reduce their numbers. The best time to see earwigs at work is at night with a flashlight

Raven said:Where do I see a picture of Vivian's damage? This is what I have seen on many of mine and called it earwig damage where the color is eaten off? Is this earwig damage? I live head every night but still have lots of this, especially on the dark colored ones

• Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Pigment of Imagination')
• Uploaded by Raven

I. Blame. Slugs. Plain and simple...when I get that kind of damage, it's slugs. Overnight damage: bud looks fine, then the slugs slip inside and chaw-chaw-chaw...white spots, or spots where the petal/sepal tissue is chewed off down to the skeleton below.

I had blamed thrips...wrong. I heard it was severe rain damage...wrong. I know it's slugs, because I witnessed their slimy selves chewing away.

In case you can't tell, I REALLY dislike slugs.

Thanks for the acorn, @Raven!