What do camel crickets look like?
- Camel crickets are 1/2 to 1 and 1/2 inches in length.
- They are tan to dark brown, often with dark bands.
- They have obvious long legs and antennae with a strongly humpbacked body that characterizes their name.
- Camel crickets are wingless and do not chirp.
- Other common names include cave crickets and spider crickets.
What are the habits of camel crickets?
- Camel crickets commonly feed and reproduce outdoors, but are often found within homes to escape hot, dry weather and overwinter.
- Eggs are laid in the spring but hatch in April.
- Populations of camel crickets can survive the winter as either nymphs or adults.
- They have a remarkable ability to jump long distances.
What kind of damage occurs because of camel crickets?
- While camel crickets are primarily a nuisance pest, their large size and rapid jumping is often alarming and makes them an intolerable pest to many.
- Although infrequent, there have been some incidences of feeding damage to clothes and lace curtains.
What should I look for when dealing with camel crickets?
- Camel crickets indoors are often found in dark rooms such as basements, crawl spaces, garages or attics.
- Camel crickets outdoors are commonly found under low-lying porches, bark piles, firewood piles, underneath stones, or in other moist, protected areas.
How do I control and eliminate camel crickets?
- Exclusion or sealing of entry points into buildings should be prevented by caulking gaps around siding, windows, doors, pipes, wires, etc.
- Yellow bug-lights or sodium vapor lighting can replace existing outside lighting to avoid attracting crickets to doors or windows.
- For indoor populations, a vacuum should be used to remove visibly accessible crickets.
- Moist harborages, such as wood piles, rotten landscape timbers, stones, rocks, etc., should be removed or placed away from properties.
- Granular containerized insecticides may be used for interior areas with known camel cricket activity such as utility rooms, behind laundry appliances, crawl spaces, etc…
- Exterior liquid insecticide applications can be made around the structure’s foundation to mitigate new populations.
If you have attempted to resolve your camel cricket infestation and are coming up short, reach out to the entomologist-led pest professionals at Innotech Pest Management to schedule an appointment now.
