Crickets

18 years ago

I have hordes of crickets in my sunroom and am trying to get rid of them. I realize that I had previously posted this same message but can't say I was successful in getting rid of the nasty critters. I would appreciate anyone's suggestion. I am desperate as I hate them. They are probably worse than tiny roaches as they announce their presence at night with their crickety songs.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

youreit
18 years ago
There's a product called Niban (or Intice) Granular Insect Bait which is supposed to control ants, silverfish, crickets, and roaches. The active ingredient is Orthoboric Acid 0.50%, and it's labeled for use inside (or outside) the home.

Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful: Cricket bait
sputnikfarm
18 years ago
Personally I like crickets. But it is annoying to have 1 in the house, chirping, and not be able to find it. Once you kill the poor fellers you also need to figure out where they are coming in and put a barrier in their way. It could be as simple as some scraps of screen over holes, or cheap clear caulk in gaps between framing and floors.At least they are not disease carriers like roaches or as creepy as silverfish plus they don't bite. Perhaps you need to get a family of lizards to move in.
Related Discussions
Any "non-chemical" way to ride of Mole Crickets?
Q
Comments (11)
The soapy water is used only for sampling the population in a small location...for scouting purposes. It's not recommended that the whole garden be drenched. I suggest that brownthumb use this technique to see if there is a high population in the lawn as well as the garden. No sense in investing in control measures if there's only a handful of these critters. brownthumb, you might be interested in investigating biological control. There is a fungus that controls mole crickets...Beauveria bassiana. Also, beneficial parasitic nematodes can be used on these insects. Call your local extension office to find out what kind of mole cricket you are likely to have (Southern or Tawny), to determine which nematode species would be effecive. It will be one of the Steinernema species. Be aware that there are predatory insects that will exist happily in a garden area, such as certain beetles, wasps, and others. A chemical free area encourages those beneficials. Birds can be helpful, too. I've watched robins hopping around, obviously listening carefully to the soil. If there are mole crickets there, the birds can find them.
...See More
What is this cricket type insect -not camel cricket
Q
Comments (3)
Well, her description immediately brought the name of the insect to my mind, but I rejected it at first because I wasn't aware that MOLE CRICKETS were found in the northeast. As I told Dee, when she sent me her images, these little guys are the bane of Southern golf courses and lawns. There are several species of mole crickets; what Dee has found is probably the Northern Mole Cricket. Would you look at those incredible digging utensils they have?? You wouldn't believe how powerful they are if you hold them in your cupped hand. Here is a link that might be useful: Mole cricket images galore
...See More
Cricket or roach
Q
Comments (6)
If the alternative is a cockroach, I'll take a cricket any day. Actually, I'm surprised that people have an aversion to them! How are they not cute?
...See More
is this a mole cricket?
Q
Comments (2)
No mole cricket this time, either (poster had cricket suggested on another recent post). This is likely The Skunk, a moth in the Oecophoridae Family (concealer moths) species is Polix coloradella. https://bugguide.net/node/view/1537237/bgimage
...See More
carney
Original Author
18 years ago
Not having taken a course in Microbiology, I have no idea what kind of disease a cricket can bring into the house. However, I believe that crickets are just as bad as roaches when it comes to carrying into the house some kind of disease as they crawl all over the place too. I think the idea of purchasing some lizards might be a good idea but then I'll have to clean up after them and that's a job I do not look forward to. Incidently, I now allow spiders to build their webs in the sunroom in hopes that some crickets might become trapped in them. Do you have any good ideas, Joe? Where are you when I need you most?
jenn
18 years ago
LOL, you sound desperate and I don't blame you. Just imagining hordes of anything in my house makes my skin crawl. We find a single cricket inside the house now and then. It's easy to find because the chirping is so loud.

My husband walked into the kitchen one day several months ago and let out a loud "What the heck!!!!" when he THOUGHT he saw a skinny snake slither through a crack at the base of the pantry and disappear. We've never seen it since but sometimes I wonder if it really was a snake and if it is still there.... and where.... =8-O
carney
Original Author
18 years ago
jenn: you hit the hammer right on the thumb when you said that I sounded desperate. Imagine one night you get up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water when you're greeted with a chorus of cricket churping their hearts out in the kitchen, or anywhere else in the house. You'd wish to move into another house.
jenn
18 years ago
Carney, I can't imagine that without my skin starting to crawl. An ant or two in the kitchen meets my threshold of tolerance for unwanted critters in the house.

Have you tried the end of a vacuum cleaner hose (with the vacuum turned on, of course)? It wouldn't be very kind to the crickets but at least you might get some peace of mind. When my step-daughter was married the reception was in the backyard with a newly planted garden filled with loads of some type of soil mix that must have had fly larvae in it. They left on their honeymoon just in time because later that night when the rest of us stayed to clean up, the ceiling inside the house was literally COVERED with flies!!! Someone got out the vacuum cleaner and sucked them all up, poor things (NOT!).
carney
Original Author
18 years ago
I recently discovered a new weapon of mass distruction to rid the sunroom of crickets. I went to the local Ninety nine cents only store and bought me a few packages of Mouse Glue Boards, made by PIC Corporation in New Jersey, cut the so-called "boards" (hard paper) into about 5 strips and laid them around the baseboard of the sunroom. The glue boards are very effective, caught several crickets the first night.This is the best WMD ever made for home use. I guess you can use them for mice, flies and roaches.
jean001
18 years ago
If you have doors to the outdoors, a good place to put the sticky strips would be indoors and to either side of the door.

But you still have to find out where they are getting in, then caulk and/or otherwise seal those places.

Beyond that, if your sunroom is where you grow a number of plants, that cozy and humid environment is "heaven" for the crickets.

Oh yes, I need to mention -- crickets don't carry/spread disease.
jenn
18 years ago
... or ants! Brilliant Carney, glad it is helping to get rid of them.
zimberquattor
18 years ago
I could bring my Bearded Dragon over, crickets are his favorite food, I pay alot of money for them!!! I wouldn't want them running around my house though, they stink too. Good luck!
-Chandra