Earwigs feed mainly on dead or decaying vegetable matter, and they will feed on living plants. They eat plant leaves, algae, fungi, sprouts and seedlings, flower petals, pollen, and corn silks. A few species are predators, eating other live Insecta and small invertebrates. The earwig will grasp its prey with its cerci, the pinchers at the end of its abdomen, and then bend so that the prey is within reach of its mouth. Earwigs will also scavenge dead insects and small invertebrates.