Just when you lay your head down on your pillow and start to drift off into a great dream, you suddenly notice the incessant chirping. Where is it coming from? It can seem so loud that you imagine the crickets are right underneath your pillow. You might go searching around the house for the culprit, but just when you believe you have found the guilty annoying cricket, it stops chirping. Long enough for you to get back into bed.

Crickets can be noisy, and some are harmless, while others can inflict extensive turf damage. They can be tricky to get rid of, but we’ll walk you through how to get rid of crickets the natural way.

Common Types of Crickets

Field Crickets are famous for their chirping, which reminds us all of warm, carefree summer nights. These crickets make homes in the ground, tall grass, and even in piles of lawn debris. They’re mostly harmless, and typically consume animal waste and plant matter. They can be helpful in consuming the pupae of certain insect pests, but in large quantities, might attack ornamental or vegetable plants. Field crickets are usually black in color, and about one and a half to two inches in length.

Mole Crickets look like the offspring of a cricket and a lobster. They are brown/black in color and are typically an inch or two in length. They are common in the southeastern part of the United States. They are common lawn invaders and can do quite a bit of damage to your lawn. Some estimates of the turf damage they do every year run in the tens of millions of dollars in several southern U.S. states. In Florida alone, damages are calculated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. If you live in the south, keep your eyes peeled for mole crickets!  

House Crickets are loud chirpers and they are so-named for being known to invade your home, though they are not usually found west of the Rocky Mountains. These crickets are yellowish-brown with dark crossbands on their heads and are only about ¾ -⅞” inches in length. One signature identifier is their antennae, which is almost always longer than the length of the rest of their body. Why do they chirp so much?  Male house crickets rub their back legs together in an attempt to attract a female.  

Camelback (also, Camel crickets, Spider crickets, Cave crickets, "criders," "land shrimp," or “sprickets”) Crickets are nocturnal, leaping insects, and occasional home invaders. Their colors typically range from light tan to brown and measure about 1-1 1/4" in length. Camel crickets do not have wings, and are omnivorous, eating just about everything, including plant matter, fungus, other insects, and even fabrics. They are related to cave crickets and are found all over the world. They love moist, dark, and damp areas, so don’t be surprised if you find them in your garage, crawlspace, or basement. The most common species here in the US is the Spotted Camel cricket, but Japanese camel crickets are also becoming more prevalent. 

Tips to Help Prevent House Crickets

Taking the time to cricket-proof your home can help you avoid an infestation. Check out a few tips to help keep crickets out of your home.

• Seal Entry Points: Examine your home for holes or cracks and use caulk to seal any you find. Check window, door, and vent screens for tears and repair or replace them. Make sure to check window and doorframes as well as the brick or siding of your home.
• Reduce Moisture: Crickets love moisture so minimizing it will help to prevent crickets. Check the interior and exterior of your home for leaky pipes or faucets. Use a dehumidifier in areas where moisture builds, especially in basements.
• Outdoor Maintenance: Mow your lawn regularly and keep the foliage trimmed. Don’t place woodpiles next to the sides of your home. Remove yard debris including leaf litter, weeds, and grass clippings.
• Create a Protective Barrier: Using a plant-based insecticide spray, like our Yard Bug Spray or Home Bug Spray, can help to keep crickets out of your home. These will kill crickets on contact while also providing you with residual repellency.
• Use a Plant-Based Insecticide Dust: Our Spider & Insect Dust can be applied to the perimeter of your home to kill and discourage crickets from coming inside.

How to Get Rid of House Crickets

You don’t have to let crickets keep you up all night. Here are a few tips to help you get rid of crickets in your home.

Make sure you’ve implemented the preventative measures listed above. Not only will this help to prevent more crickets from entering your home, it will also help to get rid them. If they don’t have access to food, moisture, and shelter, they won’t stick around.

Vacuuming can help remove crickets from your home. It will also help you get rid of cricket eggs, which are tiny and hard to see. Make sure to remove the vacuum bag and place it in a sealed outdoor trash bin. You’ll want to focus on warm, moist areas including basements and bathrooms.

It’s important to find the right pest control product for your bug problem. Finding a solution that is effective and family-friendly is key. Check out a few solutions to help keep your home free of crickets.

Baits
A boric acid granular perimeter bait can be used as a preventative treatment around the exterior of your home. Pests are attracted to the bait, leading to them eating it and then dying.

Dusts 
For crickets that get inside your house, dusts are an option for indoor treatment. Some insecticide dusts have a desiccant (dehydrating) effect on bugs, and they work by adhering to the legs and exoskeleton of the insects and dehydrating them to the point of death. 

• Diatomaceous Earth: DE is a powder that is created from the skeletons of algae and works by drying out (desiccating) the insect. It attaches itself to the body of a cricket, causing them severe dehydration and eventually death, though it takes time. 
• Boric Acid Insect Dust: Boric Acid insect dust is another option to prevent and control crickets. It should be used inside cracks, crevices, and wall voids in the general area where you're having cricket issues. Basements are another good area to dust with boric acid, as they can be perfect hangouts for certain types of crickets. 
• Plant-Based Insect Dust: Some dusts are formulated with plant essential oils, like our Spider & Insect Dust. This can be applied inside your home and outdoors. When crickets, and other pests, make contact with the dust, it kills them. It will also help repel pests, providing you with long-lasting protection. It’s an effective and more environmentally and family-friendly solution.

Insect Sticky Traps
You might be able to trap house crickets using sticky traps. Be sure to place them way out of the way of normal household traffic, as they are incredibly sticky.

Plant-Based Insecticide Sprays 

Plant-based insecticide sprays are an effective solution for controlling pests. To help with crickets in your home, try our Home Bug Spray. It will kill crickets on contact and the residual oil vapors will help to repel them. You can also spray common entry points as a preventative measure. To create a protective barrier, spray the perimeter of your yard with our Yard Bug Spray. Not only will it kill crickets on contact, its residual repellency will provide long-lasting protection.

What are your favorite hacks to keep your home cricket-free? We’d love to hear about them! Post a comment below!

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