CRICKETS

What do crickets look like?

There are two main types of crickets you are likely to come across around and in your home: house crickets and field crickets. 

House Crickets

• 16-22mm in length
• Light brown with three dark bands across the head
• Wings that lay flat against body covering ½ the abdomen
• Large hind legs used for jumping
• Long, thin antennae

Field Crickets

• 5 cm or longer in length
• Dark brown or Black in color
• Wings that lay flat against body covering ½ the abdomen
• Large hind legs used for jumping
• Long, thin antennae

The Habitat Of The Cricket

Crickets, in general, prefer to live outside. Crickets like to live in warm, moist areas like under leaves or rocks around your home. They lay their eggs in flowerbeds and gardens where the soil is loose and moist. Food is abundant here so the cricket population tends to grow throughout the summer in the flowerbeds around your home. Sources of food for a cricket includes:

• Dead and dying insects
• Live plants
• Dead and rotting vegetation
• Worms
• Insect larvae
• Roots
• Seeds
• Fruits
• Paper
• Fabric

Crickets can easily make entry into your home or business.

While both house crickets and field crickets can be found around your yard in flowerbeds and gardens, house crickets and field crickets can also make their way into your home under the right circumstances. Crickets are nocturnal so they like to hide in dark spaces during the daylight hours. As long as temperatures stay warm during the night and they have a steady food supply, crickets will stay outside. As fall approaches and the temperatures begin to drop at night, crickets begin to look for a warmer environment: your home.  Crickets are drawn to light at night so they might see a light shining through a poorly sealed door and make their way into your warm, cozy home. Crickets can enter your home through any crack they find. Once inside, crickets will seek out a food source (like your beautiful ivy or other insects also hiding in your home) at night and try to hide during the day.

Can Crickets Cause Damage To Your Home?

A single cricket in your home is not likely to do much more than bother your sleep. We call that a nuisance. Your sleep is precious to you. You need good sleep to make good decisions at home and at work. You need good sleep to feel good. One single cricket can disrupt your sleep, which can have a detrimental effect on your good day. Still, a single cricket and its chirping is just a nuisance. On the other hand, a cricket infestation will cause some physical damage in and around your home. A cricket infestation will likely eat your flowering plants in your flowerbed and vegetables in your garden. A cricket infestation in your home can likely do more than damage your books and clothes, a cricket infestation can cause health issues due to the amount of droppings left behind. A large amount of cricket droppings stink.  A large amount of live crickets in your home will also mean a large amount of dead crickets once you kill the crickets. Dead crickets stink. If you have breathing issues, this is not good for your health. It is important to keep a cricket infestation at bay.

How To Control Crickets

The chirping of a single cricket when you are trying to get a good night’s rest is enough to make you hopping mad. In your mind, one cricket or a hundred crickets, they all need to be out of your house. Your peaceful sleep depends on it. Your peace of mind depends on it. Once crickets are eliminated from your home, you need to keep a protective barrier around your home that crickets cannot cross in order to maintain that peace your mind and body desire. It is a peace you and your family need.

How To Eliminate Crickets From Your Home

Prevention is key where crickets are concerned. Simple household maintenance will keep most crickets out. By keeping your door and window seals tight (no gap at all), foundation cracks sealed, all cracks in your house sealed, most crickets will not be able to get into your home. On top of household maintenance, you can create a pesticide barrier that will keep all crickets out of your home. The best person to apply an effective pesticide barrier is a cricket control professional. A cricket control professional knows the life cycle of a cricket and therefore, when and how to apply the most effective pesticide barrier.

Once you have crickets entering your home, you can easily get rid of one or two yourself by searching for the chirping culprit that has interrupted your sleep. You can find and dispose of these random crickets yourself. Once crickets have reached infestation proportions, though, you will need a cricket control professional to eliminate each and every one of the crickets in and around your home. A cricket control professional will quickly have you back to peaceful sleep all night long.