Has anyone got any ideas as to why there aren't as many Earwigs around as there used to be when I was a child in the 1970's? It's always mystified me, and with the subject coming up over dinner with friends recently, I realised that I'm not the only one who has pondered this question.

Thanks in advance.

I've been pondering this too, ever since a question about woodlice popped up in conversation recently. Some colleagues of mine - Professor Cross and Doctor Fountain - are convinced it's a direct result of toddlers poisoning them in the late 1970s, after a particularly disturbing episode of Doctor Who triggered a form of post traumatic stress in 3-5 year olds. There was a subsequent spate of Purposeful Earwig Mortalities (PEMs), notably in the south of England where BBC2 was widely available at the time. Although disturbed, it's thought these toddlers have grown up to lead relatively normal lives, but generally speaking have an irrational fear of woodlice, rather than earwigs.

I hope this helps.

I've been pondering this too, ever since a question about woodlice popped up in conversation recently. Some colleagues of mine - Professor Cross and Doctor Fountain - are convinced it's a direct result of toddlers poisoning them in the late 1970s, after a particularly disturbing episode of Doctor Who triggered a form of post traumatic stress in 3-5 year olds. There was a subsequent spate of Purposeful Earwig Mortalities (PEMs), notably in the south of England where BBC2 was widely available at the time. Although disturbed, it's thought these toddlers have grown up to lead relatively normal lives, but generally speaking have an irrational fear of woodlice, rather than earwigs.

I hope this helps.

I've been pondering this too, ever since a question about woodlice popped up in conversation recently. Some colleagues of mine - Professor Cross and Doctor Fountain - are convinced it's a direct result of toddlers poisoning them in the late 1970s, after a particularly disturbing episode of Doctor Who triggered a form of post traumatic stress in 3-5 year olds. There was a subsequent spate of Purposeful Earwig Mortalities (PEMs), notably in the south of England where BBC2 was widely available at the time. Although disturbed, it's thought these toddlers have grown up to lead relatively normal lives, but generally speaking have an irrational fear of woodlice, rather than earwigs.

I hope this helps.