Are Camel Crickets Dangerous?

Are Camel Crickets Dangerous?

Camel crickets get their common name from their appearance, as they are humpbacked like camels. They may also be known as cave crickets or spider crickets. They are often found in caves, and in damp, cool areas under leaves, stones, and logs that are rotting. Camel crickets exist in large numbers across the Tennessee and the rest of the United States. Their lifespan is between one and two years.

Identifying Camel Crickets

Camel crickets do not produce sound, as they don’t have any organs which allow them to do so. They do not have wings, instead, they use their large back legs and long antennae to help them get around in the dark spaces where they gather. When frightened, camel crickets tend to leap. This is their defense mechanism, and basically the only way they can scare off predators.

Camel crickets are light to dark brown in color, and may have spots with lighter or darker areas. Adult camel crickets can grow to between thirteen and thirty-three millimeters in length.

Problems Camel Crickets Cause

Camel crickets really do not pose any health threats to humans. They don’t have fangs and cannot bite, are not poisonous, and are not known to carry any diseases.

Camel crickets can become a nuisance, though, if they get into your home. Some species may damage clothing and other fabrics, like curtains. Their diet consists of wood, carpet, fungi, cardboard, other insects, and even other camel crickets at times. They can create a lot of damage as their numbers grow, and that is the last thing you want to happen in your home!

How to Prevent Camel Crickets

Preventing a camel cricket infestation takes work. Though these pests are not dangerous to your health and won’t hurt you, they can be a real nuisance.

Here are a few things you can do to help keep them out of your home and off your property:

  • Reduce areas of moisture in and around your home. You may choose to use a dehumidifier to prevent moisture build-up inside.
  • Seal points of entry around your home, such as gaps under and around doors and windows, cracks in your foundation, and tears or rips in window screens.
  • Ventilate crawl spaces, basements, and attics.
  • Firewood should be stored no less than twenty feet away from your house.
  • Remove debris from your yard.
  • Outdoor garbage cans should be moved away from the exterior walls of your home.
  • Tall grasses on your property should be mowed to a manageable length.

Getting Rid of Camel Crickets

If you believe you have a camel cricket infestation in your home, contact a licensed pest control professional right away. The professionals at Russell’s Pest Control will conduct an inspection of both the interior and exterior of your home. We will work with you to develop a treatment plan to rid your home of camel crickets. Give us a call to learn more. 

Why Do I Have Camel Crickets In My Basement?

Why Do I Have Camel Crickets In My Basement?

If your basement is dark and moist, that is all the incentive camel crickets need. They may have come into your home last fall when the temperatures outside dropped. Not wanting to die is a pretty big incentive for camel crickets. If you’ve come here looking for more of a, “how did camel crickets get into my basement?” sort of question, or a, “how do I get camel crickets out of my basement?” question, this article is for you.

If your “why” is more of a “how” the answer is simple. You have camel crickets in your basement because camel crickets have no real body structure underneath their hard exoskeleton. That means they can squeeze through some pretty tight gaps or cracks. If you want to keep these silent, spider-looking critters from leaping off your basement wall at you while you’re doing laundry, the first thing you need to do is seal up any cracks you have in your basement. Be sure to look closely around pipes, electrical conduits, and other objects that pass through your exterior walls.

You also want to make sure that all your windows have proper screens and a good seal around their frame. This is a good idea for keeping all sorts of bugs out, and also preventing moisture damage to your home.

It is extremely difficult to find and seal all the holes these creatures can squeeze in through, so another measure that is good to take is to reduce the conditions that bring camel crickets in close to your home. Don’t let any grass grow up next to your foundation wall and keep your lawn mowed. Keep your garbage cans sealed or put them somewhere away from your exterior walls. Do a routine cleaning of your gutter system to prevent clogs. Crickets are drawn to wet leaves and twigs.

You can also decrease how comfortable your basement is to camel crickets by installing a dehumidifier. Since these insects require moisture to live, removing the humidity from your basement and fixing weeping pipes can go a long way to telling those crickets that they are unwelcome.

None of these things will get rid of the crickets that are currently infesting your basement or wall voids. The reason we didn’t mention do-it-yourself cricket control measures is that they usually only lead to frustration and a prolonged infestation. If you’re feeling adventurous, you’re welcome to try sticky traps, soapy water, and all of the other strange ideas available on the web, but the effective exclusion of camel crickets requires an understanding of entomology and advanced pest control protocols. At Russell’s Pest Control, you’ll get both. When you’re ready to know that ALL the crickets in your home are gone–and gone for good–give us a call. We’d be happy to help.

Is That A Cricket In My Basement?

Is That A Cricket In My Basement?

In the dark corners of a basement it is sometimes hard to figure out exactly what you’re looking at, and camel crickets don’t make it easy. Their long, thin legs make them look like a spider which is not all that big of a deal, until they come flying out of the darkness at you. If you’re wondering if you have camel crickets in your basement, and would rather not be scared half to death when they leap out at you from the darkness, we can help you with that. But before we tell you how to fix the problem, here are a few more ways those lovable little crickets can drive you crazy.

  • Camel crickets are sort of the “goat” of the insect kingdom. They will eat pretty much anything. They will leave holes in plants and curtains alike. If you have camel crickets in your home, you can be assured that, to them, nothing is sacred.

  • Camel crickets can damage stored items, like clothing, blankets, sheets, and other fabrics that are packed in the garage, attic spaces, or closets. Packed items are at most risk if they are in a place that is humid.

  • If you have a lot of camel crickets, you’re going to get the feces that come with any insect pest. These droppings will be left in hard-to-reach places inside wall voids and insulation.

  • Camel crickets chirp. This may sound nice, but it gets old fast at 3 a.m. when you have to get up for work in the morning.

  • Camel crickets are icky. There is really no other way to put it. If you are watching television and a camel cricket leaps into your hair or crawls up under your shirt, it is never pleasant. These creatures aren’t dangerous, but their alien appearance and hard exoskeleton can be really unsettling.

  • There is a side threat to having crickets in your home: Crickets are food for a lot of other creatures, especially rodents. If you have these tasty morsels crawling around in your wall voids, attic spaces, and basement areas mice and rats will love you for it.

At Russell’s Pest Control we protect homes from camel crickets, and a whole host of other invasive pests that like to get in through the cracks. Our power plans start at just $29 per month, and provide year-round protection from over 30 common household pests, including crickets. Camel crickets are a pest you can live without. Get your walls sealed and keep these and other pests out with professional, year-round pest control–and you may just keep pests that are even scarier out.

What Are Camel Crickets And Why Are They In My House?

What Are Camel Crickets And Why Are They In My House?

Camel crickets. What an interesting name. These interesting little creatures resemble a cross between a cricket, mosquito and a spider. They are also known as “sprickets”, or spider crickets and also cave crickets. They are usually brown in color and have two long back legs, like a cricket, but they also have six other legs that make it so they can be mistaken as a spider. Upon a closer look, their body and torso resemble a stinger-less or mouthless mosquito. With so many different insects on this earth, why are we concerned with these guys?

First of all, they can be very invasive. These small creatures will enter your home through small cracks and crevices and head for your basement. They like dark and damp environments. They feed on almost anything, but usually organic things like:

  • Plant decay
  • Grass
  • Fruit seedling plants
  • Fungi (found on your basement walls)
  • Other dead insects

While their diet is diverse, their choice of the perfect living environment is specific. You can find them not only in your basement or dark out buildings, but they are also found in other areas such as:

  • Shower or laundry areas
  • Compost heaps
  • Rotten logs, tree stumps or hollow trees
  • Under damp leaves, stones or boards.
  • Around sewers, gutters and landscaping drainage

These tiny bugs pose no real threat to humans or our pets but they are a nuisance to have around. They will come up from your basement and congregate in the corners of your rooms looking for a meal of spiders or other insects. They are also in search of a quiet, moist and dark place to lay their eggs. Here are a few general tips to help keep them out of your home:

  • Repair all cracks and crevices in your basement or crawl space walls
  • Be sure to seal around all utility entrances into your home
  • Keep shrubbery and trees trimmed back away from the walls of your home
  • Routinely ‘air’ out dark and damp places in your home

These crickets are very good at gaining entry into your home. Once you have a camel cricket problem in your home, it is quite difficult to get them out. If you have some living in your home and you can’t seem to rid yourself of them, then it’s certainly time to call the Knoxville pest control professionals.  Contact Russell’s Pest Control and get these invasive nuisances out!

Camel Crickets: The Mad Hoppers

An amusing anecdote: A friend of mine had her first close encounter with a camel cricket as a teenager. Her parents had a basement rancher; the cricket entered from the garage and came out of a dark corner to taunt her one night when she was home alone. Feeling concerned but not yet dismayed, she grabbed a shoe and proceeded to stalk the invader. You can imagine her surprise when the cricket turned on her as she approached and jumped at her instead of running away. This was no ordinary cricket; it jumped well above the height of her knee and chased her all the way to the next room. Her solution? She armed herself with three phone books and launched them one at a time from half-way up the stairs. Desperation made her aim true, and she landed the last one on the enemy. She then jumped up and down on top of it for five minutes until she was sure the offender was dead. I laugh aloud every time I imagine this.

Camel crickets are a problem in the fall and winter in Knoxville and the surrounding counties, and their nasty habit of hopping at people is unacceptable. I have never met anyone who could tolerate a camel cricket problem in their home. So, how can you bring peace to the basement once more?

Believe it or not, in most cases, camel crickets do not want to be in your house. Typically, they wander in from outside while hunting for a place to hide from the sun (they’re nocturnal). A gap under your garage door gives them access to the warm building, and then they only have to wait for the door to swing open to let them in the house. What they will find, however, is that there’s nothing good to eat there. Camel crickets (and other crickets) are rarely destructive in homes; they are plant eaters and will be unimpressed by the food in your kitchen.

In light of that, how do you stop the hoppers? I return to my stand-by advice: Seal up the holes into your house! This is especially relevant now that the weather is getting cold. Grabbing some caulk or weather stripping is a hassle that you may not need in your busy schedule, but it will benefit your wallet and help to alleviate your pest problem if you can find time for it. Every hole that you block is another place where cold air can’t get in and warm air can’t get out. Think of the good you can do for your heating bills this winter. Check your doors and windows as well as the opening around your plumbing and cable wires for potential problems.

There is a chance that camel crickets are purposely choosing to live in your basement or crawl space because they are comfortable there. This is almost always the result of dampness and perhaps clutter. Like many pests, crickets like to find undisturbed areas to hide. If you can get any boxes off the floor of your garage or basement and store them up higher, you will eliminate the majority of the crickets’ housing. Also, many pest control companies recommend de-humidifiers for basements or crawl spaces that remain damp throughout the year. A damp crawl space can lead to many (sometimes expensive) problems, ranging from wood rot, to pest invasions, to mold. A cozy, dry basement or crawl space will not be comfortable to camel crickets, and they will be less likely to enter your home to escape the cold.

At Russell’s Pest Control, we do free home inspections. Our inspectors can tell you whether you have moisture problems in the crawl space or conditions in the basement that leave you in danger of facing bug problems or home maintenance issues. They can also do a check for termite activity while they’re there. Does that sound like the sort of helpful information you need? Try calling us, or check in with us on our contact page. We promise to answer your questions and serve you to the best of our abilities.