Earworms like it warm. The milder the winter, the more likely they are to survive. They may not have big pinchers, crawl up into human ears and lay their eggs, like earwigs do, but they do pose a threat to humans. They destroy about 2% of U.S. the corn crop annually and that percentage threatens to rise with global warming.
Actually, earwigs are more of a folk lore threat than an actual one, so we only have one "ear" bug to worry about. Unfortunately, we've got more than one corn bug. In addition to earworms, the European corn borer and several others devour a significant portion of the U.S. corn crop each year.
In warm weather, earworms tuck napkins under their chins and get down to business. Worms, by their nature, aren't terribly systematic or orderly, so earworms don't subscribe to the typewriter-style of corn consumption. In fact, they usually only eat the tips of the ear. They're wasteful, as "pests" often are.
In the ongoing pest vs. pesticide war, global warming may give pests like the earworm the edge.
(Photo Credit: Marlin E. Rice)
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