Cricket Control: Protect Your Home or Business
Facts
- Field and house crickets are the most likely to enter buildings, though invasive camel crickets are also becoming common indoor pests.
- While house and field crickets mostly feed on plant matter, camel crickets are scavengers that may feast on each other.
- These pests must eat their body weight or more in food each day to stay alive.
Appearance
Though they vary in size and color by species, most crickets have cylindrical bodies, large back legs, and long antennae. House crickets are light brown with three dark bands on their heads, while field crickets are deep brown to black. They both range between half an inch to an inch long.
Camel crickets, also known as cave crickets, can grow up to an inch and a half in length. They have tan bodies with curved backs and spikey legs. Generally, baby crickets of any species look similar to the adult pests, only smaller in size.
How Do Crickets Get Inside Buildings?
As occasional invaders, crickets may wander indoors looking for warmth in the late summer to early fall. The pests come into homes through open doors, tears in screens, and minor cracks in the foundation. Their powerful hind legs also allow crickets to jump to high places. If a window is within reach, they could enter through a small opening.
Warehouses, loading docks, auto repair businesses, hospital cafeterias, and other buildings with large ports might let crickets in through gaps under garage doors. The pests nibble on cardboard and rubber products, so they may take shelter in boxes and other shipping containers.
Signs of Cricket Infestation
Typically, crickets don’t infest structures for food or breeding. However, warm, moist, and dark places like crawl spaces, basements, or kitchens make great hiding spots that crickets might eventually call home. Factors that can tip you off to their presence include:
- Numbers – One cricket may find its way inside by accident, but noticing several in areas such as showers or garages suggests an infestation.
- Noise – Chirping sounds heard inside during the night could be a male cricket’s mating call.
- Damage – Nibbled furniture, rugs, clothing, or rubber molding is a sign of a large cricket population.
Problems Caused by Crickets
Although they can bite people, these insects almost never do. However, crickets can pick up diseases and parasites that render them paralyzed or sick. While they don’t transfer these pathogens to humans, small pets like birds and reptiles that eat infected crickets could become ill.
Most cricket activity is a nuisance. These pests may chew rubber parts in appliances and feed on fabric or even some pantry goods. Crickets’ constant chirping and ability to move quickly make them both annoying and tough to control. In commercial settings, their eating habits damage kitchen gear, merchandise, and plants in greenhouses or gardens.
Prevention Tips
To block entry points, replace torn screens, install door sweeps, and seal cracks in foundations or frames. Outdoors, you can move organic material like yard trimmings, mulch, woodpiles, and compost away from walls. If crickets in your home or business are too much to control, call Western Pest Services or contact us online to deal with them quickly and effectively.