I was watering my maple tree today and found some strange holes in it and noticed some of the bark was starting to peel off. I pulled back a couple of pieces of the bark and saw some earwigs in the tree. I need to know how to get rid of them without damaging the tree and before they do any more damage. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks
The earwigs didn't cause the holes. They just like it damp and dark, so they moved in. Other then being very creepy (personal bias) they are harmless. They eat fungus and rotting plant matter. Unless you see any other reason for these holes they could just be the bark cracking and sluffing off naturally.
Understood earwigs do eat live plant material. Have noticed them here on young tender seedlings at night and thought they had eaten the base of the stems and some leaves. Haven't looked for them on maples, nor heard of them eating the live bark. Have found them under the old peeling bark of birches, though. They are nocturnal, doing the damage at night. Seen a lady that had a small icecream bucket or something similar, half filled with grass, hanging in her peach tree. The earwigs hid in it during daylight hours and she would check it each morning to dispose of them. The tree was roofed with that rigid clear plasticlike product to shed the rain. Maybe Tangle Foot or vaseline? could be put on the trunk base to keep them from climbing the tree. Acer griseum bark peels naturally. Root weevils are also active at night and feed on the leaf edges. Can search "earwigs" these forums.