Another study has confirmed that cockroaches, not earwigs, are by far the most common insects that enter people’s ears, according to the records of physicians who have extracted insects from people’s ears.
The report, in the South African Medical Journal, studied insects removed from ears by South African hospital physicians over a two-year period. Almost half of all insects removed from ears were cockroaches, followed by flies, beetles, moths, and a tick. Cockroaches usually enter people’s ears at night as they sleep. More cockroaches were removed from the ears of children than adults.
These findings are similar to a 1998 study in a Los Angeles hospital, which found that over ¾ of all insects removed from ears at the hospital were cockroaches