When Springfield Is Quiet, You Can Hear The Crickets

October 9, 2019

In: Residential Pest Control

Many Springfield, Massachusetts homeowners are accustomed to the steady chirp of crickets at night. Some find the sound relaxing and familiar, while others consider it a nuisance. Either way, the sound becomes much more concerning when it's coming from inside your house. Fall is the time of year when crickets are seeking shelter and warmth, in your home. They're small enough to find many entry points, and once they are inside, getting rid of them can be challenging. Thankfully, American Pest Solutions has lots of experience dealing with these nuisance pests, and we want to help you.

New England Crickets

Three types of crickets live in Springfield— house crickets, field crickets, and camel crickets. The house cricket is the smallest. It grows to around ¾ of an inch, is a yellow/brown with three dark bands across their head, and has pointed tips on it's wings. Field crickets have rounded wingtips and are much darker, often black or a dark brown, and are usually between ½ to 1-inch long. Last is the camel cricket that gets its name from its hunched appearance, which is caused by it's enlarged back legs. The camel cricket is brown with some darker bands and can grow up to 1 ½ inches. Camel crickets do not have wings, meaning they also don't make the characteristic cricket chirp caused by their wings rubbing together. All three of these crickets can get inside your house, and all three can cause problems.

Can Crickets Be Dangerous?

Although crickets don't bite or sting, they bring with them their own set of problems. Most importantly, crickets carry diseases such as E. coli and salmonella. They may also carry dangerous worms in their feces. The more crickets you have living in your home, the more danger there is that you will contract one of these diseases.
 
Crickets can also cause property damage, as they chew on fabrics such as clothing or furniture. They also eat paper and can destroy books, documents, and wallpaper. If you hear crickets inside your house at night, you should quickly take steps to get rid of them.

Why Do Crickets Come Inside?

Crickets mostly come inside to find warm, moist hiding places. They don't often come inside for food since they feed on the organic matter that is easily found outside. However, once the weather begins to cool, they will seek safety inside your home. They are small enough to fit through cracks or holes in the exterior of your house, and they are fast enough to slip in through an open door when you aren't looking. Once inside, they'll seek out damp areas such as crawl spaces, basements, laundry rooms, attics, or other unused, warm spaces.

How to Stop Crickets

To discourage crickets from coming inside, you need to eliminate their food sources on your property. By keeping your yard free of organic debris, you'll be sending crickets away from your property before they even attempt to come inside. You can also switch to yellow lights outdoors, as white light attracts crickets. Finally, using a dehumidifier in your home will help keep crickets out since they need an incredibly moist environment, and a dry house will be much less appealing. If these prevention tips don't work, your best bet is to call Action Pest Solutions. We will work alongside you to put into place a cricket prevention and elimination plan that has long-lasting results.