How to Identify and Get Rid of Crickets

How to Identify Crickets

Crickets are nocturnal and are attracted to warm, moist areas in homes and businesses. They tend to remain at floor level so you will often find them on top of your foundation, in your garage, in holes in the wall, and under couches and fireplace inserts.

If you’re worried you might have a cricket infestation, the first step to treating it is to identify the type of cricket you have. There are roughly 100 different cricket species in the U.S., but only a handful of them will actually seek shelter inside your home.

Camel Crickets

Camel crickets are small, light to dark brown in color and have a humpback appearance. They have long legs and antennae and are found all over the United States. Unlike many other cricket types, they don’t have wings or produce sounds with their back legs. Instead, they leap when they are scared or threatened. You will find them outside in wells, woodpiles or mulch. They prefer crawl spaces, damp basements, garages or utility rooms inside. They like to feed on fabric like curtains or clothing.

House Crickets

House crickets get their name because they survive very well inside homes. In fact, if they aren’t taken care of, they can spend their entire life inside your home or business. They are small, winged and light, yellowish brown in color. They have long antennae and three dark crossbands on their head. They are nocturnal and like warm, wet indoor environments. You’ll find them in garbage dumps outside. Electric lights will attract them and sometimes you’ll find thousands of them on light poles. The males rub their front wings together at night as part of their mating ritual. So, that’s when you will be more aware of their presence. They also like to feed on fabric, including carpet and clothing.

Field Crickets

You’ll find field crickets throughout the Midwest and eastern part of the United States. They can be up to an inch long, are black and brown in color, have long antennae and six legs. They spend much of their time outside, and usually wander indoors by mistake. Unlike other types of crickets, they won’t breed or set up permanent residence in your home. But they will damage or stain curtains, carpet and clothing.

Mole Crickets

Mole crickets can be up to an inch and a half in length, can be dark or golden brown and have front claws like moles, heads like lobsters and bodies like crickets. They are diggers and can tear up your lawn, turf or landscaping. They will damage your plants in two ways – by feeding on them and digging tunnels underneath them. To make matters worse, raccoons feed on mole crickets and the presence of mole crickets will attract raccoons to your property.

​Preventing Cricket Infestations

Crickets chirping inside your home can seem like a whole bunch of smoke detectors that need their batteries change. You hear it, you know it’s there, but you just can’t seem to locate it. Finding them may be difficult, so it’s best to call in a pest control expert trained to know where they hide. But if you think you want to try and do it yourself first– there are a few things you can do to get rid of them.

• Try a cricket trap. The traps use glue to make the surface sticky, so when the cricket jumps in it, they can’t get out. The main problem with traps is catching them is basically left to luck. So, you’ll need to make sure you put them in areas where you are certain the crickets are hiding out.
• Use a vacuum. If you can see the crickets, then you can vacuum them up. This treatment is most effective if you only have a few crickets in the house.
• Make your own bait. Mix molasses and water in a small bowl and put the bowl in the area where the crickets are living. They’ll be attracted to the sweet smell, jump in and drown.
• Try a spray. You can use an insecticide bug spray in the corners of your rooms and along your window sills. Be careful to keep pets and children away until it dries.
• Use Diatomaceous Earth (DE). DE is non-toxic and can be applied around baseboards and in wall crevices where you’ve seen crickets. The treatment will ultimately dehydrate them to the point of death.
• Keep the dampness out. Do what you can to make your basement and garages less damp. Since crickets like wet, warm environments, doing what you can to eliminate moisture will help eliminate crickets.

Professional Cricket Treatment

Crickets are one of the 30-plus pests covered under the Ehrlich Pestfree365 Program. We will treatment your home and property on a regular schedule throughout the year but will also make unlimited service calls at no extra cost whenever a new or existing issue causes problems. Our pest specialists will inspect your home, treat the necessary area and provide a detailed report to you with every service. The Pestfree365 program is an effective and affordable solution to get rid of crickets and dozens more common household pests.

Ehrlich’s Cricket Services

Whatever pest control issue you may have, Ehrlich is here to help. Our pest control specialists are highly trained, licensed and certified professionals who use the latest technology, treatment and tools to eliminate your current problems and prevent future infestations. We have been protecting homes and businesses from pests since 1928 – we’d be honored to protect yours too.