Crickets in Houses
Crickets in your house don't typically create a major concern for damage, safety or health. Crickets can damage paper and fabric, but it's rare that they're responsible for major damage in your home and it's uncommon for them to bite. As with any insect, their waste can transmit disease, but the main reason for getting crickets out of your home is that the chirping of the male crickets can be a nuisance.
Common Types of Crickets
If you find crickets in your house, basement or garage, they're likely one of three cricket breeds.
House Cricket
As the name suggests, house crickets are easily capable of living in a home. These crickets are light brown in color and can grow to about an inch in length They have thin antennae that can be longer than their bodies. If you look closely at a house cricket, you may notice three distinctive bands on the head. You may confuse house crickets with roaches due to their color and the fact that their wings lie flat on their abdomens.
Despite the name, house crickets typically live outside until the weather becomes cool. They then may move indoors, looking for warmth and moisture in a kitchen, bathroom or finished basement.
Field Cricket
Adult field crickets can grow up to 1-1/4 inches long. If you see a black cricket in your house, it's probably a field cricket, though they can also appear dark brown.
Like house crickets, they prefer the outdoors but if the weather gets too hot or too cold, or if they're looking for food or moisture, they may try to enter your home.
Spider Cricket
There are several common names for this cricket. In addition to the term spider cricket, you may hear it referred to as a cave cricket or, due to their body shape, a camel cricket. They're usually a light or dark brown color and can grow up to 1-1/2 inches in length. They look for warmth and moisture in houses but unlike other crickets, they don't chirp.
Spider crickets are more common in garages, crawlspaces and basements than in living areas. These crickets are likely to be in groups — if you see one, there are probably others nearby.
How to Get Rid of Crickets in the House
Making your indoors less desirable to crickets is often the most effective method of control and can be a good alternative if you want to reduce the need to use pesticides. There are several relatively simple steps you can take.
- Keep living and storage spaces tidy. Clothes, papers and boxes on the floor can all provide shelter for crickets.
- Clean up food waste and spills quickly. As with many types of pests, eliminating a potential food supply will make your home less attractive to crickets.
- Reduce excess moisture in your home by fixing leaking plumbing and fixing leaking fixtures. Keep potential problem areas such as basements well-ventilated and operate dehumidifiers as needed. See our guides to preventing water damage and preventing moisture problems in the basement for tips on tracking down and dealing with moisture issues.
- If you have a cat or a dog, they can be a natural deterrent and a natural source of pest control.
- A few drops of molasses in a small bowl of water will attract crickets into the water where they'll drown.
- Sticky paper and glue traps for crawling insects immobilize the crickets until they die.
- Many pesticides designed for indoor use can kill crickets. Apply the pesticide according to the manufacturer's instructions. Common application locations include baseboards, around door and window frames and in utility areas such as garages and basements.
How to Repel Crickets
Another way of dealing with crickets is to take steps to keep them away from your home. As an added benefit, many of these practices will help keep out other pests. Many will also keep your exterior well-maintained and can even make your home more energy efficient.
- Seal gaps in your home foundation, around crawlspace doors and foundation vents, and fill in any gaps in window and door frames.
- Check the weatherstripping around windows and doors and replace it if it's damaged.
- Replace damaged window screens.
- Keep your landscape (particularly the area immediately around your home) clear of trash, debris and yard waste. This eliminates attractive shelter for crickets and can help keep them from finding their way into the house.
- Effective use of outdoor lighting can prevent attracting crickets to your home. Rather than keeping outside lights on throughout the night, consider motion-activated lights. They can provide the security and safety of well-lit spaces when activated but won't be a continual attraction to crickets.
- Maintain your gutters and keep them clear of leaves to remove a source of shelter for crickets.
- Maintain your lawn and garden and keep shrubs and trees near your home trimmed so they don't touch the house and allow easy access.
- Consider putting up bird feeders, birdbaths and bird houses. Some birds are natural predators of crickets and can help reduce the numbers of crickets near the home.
- You can apply pesticides as barriers around the perimeter of your home and near possible entry.
If you're looking for an alternative to synthetic pesticides to kill or repel crickets, you can try products containing boric acid, diatomaceous earth or DE (a powder consisting of the exoskeletons of microorganisms), neem oil or peppermint oil.
When using any type of pest control product, whether synthetic or natural, read and follow all use, safety and storage instructions. Make sure it's effective against the pest you're targeting. Pay attention to the type of insects a product kills. Some can also kill beneficial insects.
How to Get Rid of Crickets In the Lawn
In the southeast portion of the country, mole crickets can cause considerable damage to lawns. Mole crickets can grow up to a couple of inches in length and have a distinctive appearance, with a head that resembles that of a shrimp and noticeably large, claw-like front legs. The legs allow the insect to dig into the ground and tunnel, damaging lawns by destroying the roots of the grass. Some mole crickets feed on the roots as well.
Similar to a smaller version of mole tunnels, you might notice upheavals in the lawn indicating the presence of mole crickets. If you suspect an infestation, combine a couple of tablespoons of dish detergent with a gallon of water. Pour the solution over a couple of square feet of lawn in the morning or evening to drive any mole crickets to the surface — more than a couple means you should consider treating the lawn.
If you want to avoid chemical pesticides, you can treat a mole cricket infestation with an application of beneficial nematodes at the end of summer or beginning of fall. It takes some time, but in addition to killing mole crickets, it provides a food source for beneficial organisms in the soil.
Several lawn pesticides can kill crickets in the lawn, usually in spring and summer. In addition to barrier treatments, you can find pesticides that treat an entire lawn, such as concentrates for use in tanks sprayers, concentrates that connect to a garden hose and granules that you can apply with a lawn spreader.
Good soil and good lawn care practices can help turfgrass recover from mole cricket damage.
Frequently Asked Questions About Crickets
Want to know more about crickets? Here are answers to some common questions.
What Kills Crickets Instantly?
Depending on the formula, a pesticide containing a pyrethroids (such as cypermethrin or bifenthrin) can act very quickly. These pesticides begin to kill crickets within minutes, but the insects can take several hours or a day or two to die. Check pesticide product information for details on how the product works.
How Long Is a Cricket's Life Cycle?
A cricket's life span can range from 60 to about 90 days. They start as eggs, hatch as nymphs after approximately two weeks and develop into adults in a little more than a month. An adult cricket can generally live for about a month and a half.
Are Crickets Bad for Your Home?
Crickets can do some damage to paper and different types of fabric such as cotton and silk. Typically, however, they don't cause a lot of problems. In general, the presence of these crickets in your home is simply a nuisance.
While crickets aren't usually a major problem indoors, mole crickets can damage home lawns in the southeastern states.
Can Crickets Bite Humans?
While crickets can bite, it's rare for a cricket to bite a human. If they do, their bite is unlikely to pierce the skin.
What Happens to Crickets In the Winter Months?
Crickets will typically die during winter if they remain outdoors. Cold weather is one of the main reasons crickets seek shelter indoors. Cricket eggs, however, can survive the winter and hatch in spring.