Cricket infestations can be more than just a nuisance. The persistent chirping can disrupt your sleep. Crickets can also damage fabrics and attract other pests.
But don’t lose hope! With the right knowledge and tools, you can learn how to get rid of crickets and reclaim your space!
Why Are Crickets Invading Your Home?
To outsmart a cricket, you have to think like one. Understanding how to eliminate crickets starts with learning more about their behavior and why they’ve decided to invade your home in the first place.
Crickets are attracted to warm, moist areas in your home, including basements, garages, and kitchens. While they’re just trying to find safety, they don’t make the best roommates! Since they are nocturnal creatures that prefer to move around and chirp at night, it’s disruptive when you’re trying to sleep.
Signs You Have a Cricket Infestation
If you’ve noticed any of the following signs, it could signify that you have an infestation on your hands!
Signs of a cricket infestation include:
- Loud chirping sounds, especially at night.
- Damage to fabrics, particularly silk and wool.
- Small, dark droppings in corners or along baseboards.
Understanding cricket behavior is the first step in eliminating this annoying pest from your home and becoming a Catchmaster!
Common Types of Crickets Found in Your Home
There could be one of the four common crickets in your home, including:
- House Crickets: A house cricket is the most common type of cricket. It typically measures between ¾ and one inch long and has a yellow-brown colored body. They’re notorious for their loud chirping and prefer warm, moist environments, entering homes through cracks and holes in foundations, particularly during the fall.
- Field Crickets: Slightly larger than house crickets, field crickets have black or brown bodies and typically prefer the outside. They will move inside when necessary for safety. Their powerful back legs make them excellent jumpers!
- Camel Crickets: Also known as cave crickets or spider crickets, these little pests have a humpbacked appearance and exceptionally long hind legs that make them look more harmful than they truly are! Unlike typical house crickets, they prefer dark, damp areas, including basements and crawl spaces.
- Jerusalem Crickets: These large crickets are often called potato bugs or skull insects. They are more popular in Western North America and can deliver a painful, though not venomous, bite!
Now that you know how to identify each type of cricket, let’s take a look at what kills crickets.
Natural Ways to Get Rid of Crickets in the House
Consider using natural repellents in addition to Catchmaster’s Cricket Traps. This dual strategy not only helps in catching crickets but also works to keep them away, ensuring a long-term solution to your cricket problems.
Be sure to use or replace these natural repellents at least a few times per week for maximum effectiveness.
Essential Oils
Crickets don’t like the smell of essential oils like peppermint or eucalyptus. Add a few drops of essential oils to a spray bottle of water, and shake to combine. Spray around cricket-infested areas and entry points around doors and windows.
Alternatively, put some of the essential oil on a cotton ball and place it wherever you see crickets around your home.
Please note: If you have pets in your home, do not use essential oils, as they can be harmful to pets, especially cats. Instead, focus on other prevention methods and use Catchmaster’s cricket traps to control crickets in and around your home.
Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth, called DE for short, is a natural substance that can be highly effective in controlling crickets and other pests. Made from fossilized remains of tiny aquatic organisms called diatoms, this fine powder is safe for humans and pets but deadly for insects.
Here’s how to use it for cricket control:
- Sprinkle Lightly: Dust a thin layer of food-grade diatomaceous earth (not the kind for pools) around the perimeter of your home, in cracks and crevices, and in areas where crickets are likely to hide.
- Apply to Entry Points: Apply it around doors, windows, and any other potential entry points to prevent crickets from entering.
- Reapply as Needed: Check the treated areas regularly and reapply as needed, especially after rain or cleaning.
The diatomaceous earth works by dehydrating crickets on contact, leading to their death. This method is non-toxic and can be an excellent addition to your overall cricket control strategy. You can find diatomaceous earth at your local feed store or online.
Prevention Tips for a Cricket-Free Home
Maintaining a cricket-free home requires ongoing preventative measures. By making your home less attractive to crickets, you can worry less about how to kill crickets and spend more of your time enjoying a peaceful, quiet environment year-round. Here are some helpful tips to help you maintain your Catchmaster status:
Seal Entry Points
Crickets often enter homes through small cracks and gaps. By sealing these entry points, you can significantly reduce the chances of crickets getting inside. Follow these steps:
- Inspect Your Home: Regularly check the foundation, walls, and around windows and doors for any gaps or cracks.
- Use Caulk or Weatherstripping: Seal small gaps with caulk and larger gaps with weatherstripping. Pay special attention to areas where utilities enter the home.
- Install Door Sweeps: Add door sweeps to the bottoms of exterior doors to block crickets from sneaking in underneath.
Sealing entry points will help keep crickets and other pests out, improving your home’s overall pest management.
Reduce Outdoor Lighting
Crickets are attracted to light, especially at night. Reducing outdoor lighting can help deter crickets from gathering near your home. Here’s how:
- Use Yellow Bug Lights: Replace standard outdoor lights with yellow bug lights, which are less attractive to crickets and other insects.
- Limit Lighting Duration: Use timers or motion sensors to reduce the time lights are on, especially around entry points.
- Reposition Lights: Place outdoor lights away from entry points and windows to minimize attraction to your home’s interior.
By controlling outdoor lighting, you can create a less appealing environment for crickets and other nighttime insects.
Maintain Your Yard
A well-maintained yard is less inviting to crickets and other pests. Keeping your yard clean and tidy can prevent crickets from nesting and breeding close to your home. Try these maintenance tips:
- Mow the Lawn Regularly: Keep the grass short to reduce hiding spots for crickets.
- Remove Debris: Clear away piles of leaves, wood, and other debris where crickets might hide.
- Trim Vegetation: Keep shrubs and bushes trimmed and away from the house to prevent crickets from using them as a bridge to enter your home.
Also, make sure your yard is well-drained to avoid creating moist environments that crickets love. Proper yard maintenance is an important part of a comprehensive pest prevention strategy.
Have a mosquito problem, too? Discover how to enjoy the outdoors this summer with our expert tips to keep mosquitoes away.
Are Cricket Traps Effective? What You Need to Know
Catchmaster offers a number of effective and user-friendly cricket traps to help you get rid of crickets for good!
Our CricketXL Cricket Patterned Glue Board Traps are a highly effective solution for cricket control. These traps use a powerful, non-toxic adhesive to capture crickets on contact.
Key features include:
- Pre-baited for immediate use
- Low profile for placing in tight spaces
- Effective against crickets and other crawling insects
- Cricket pattern on the board, as crickets are naturally drawn to the cricket shape
- The more crickets caught on the board, the more likely you are to attract and catch even more crickets
Our Catch Zone Pest Boundary Roll is ideal for large areas, including basements and storage areas.
Key features include:
- Extends up to 60 feet long
- Non-toxic and bait-free
- Also works well for mice, rats, roaches, flies, and other crawling pests
Expert Tips for Catching and Trapping Crickets
Catching and trapping crickets can take some experience. Here are some of our most popular expert tips on how to get rid of crickets in the house:
- Observe: Where are the crickets seen, and where are they heard? Are they in a basement, garage or elsewhere? Understanding where the crickets are will help you develop your plan.
- Monitor Conducive Areas: Crickets prefer cool, damp areas in a home. As a result, it will be helpful to pay particular attention to these areas as you monitor for the pests.
- Use Catchmaster® Cricket XL giant cricket traps to monitor areas where crickets have been observed. It is the largest cricket trap with 55 square inches of cricket-stopping™ power!
- Raise the Dead: As strange as it sounds, one way to increase your cricket catch is to include 1 or 2 dead crickets on your glue board.
- Prevent them from returning: Fully inspect the exterior of your home and seal up any openings like cracks in foundations or door seals.
Eliminate House Crickets Effectively with Catchmaster
Are you ready to reclaim your peaceful home? Discover our collection of cricket control and crawling insect solutions and transform your noisy nights into peaceful ones. With Catchmaster, you’re not just controlling pests—you’re mastering them.
Catchmaster: The pest control product that turns homeowners into pros. Your journey to a cricket-free home starts now!