Camel Crickets

Camel (Cave) Cricket Exterminators

Problems with Camel Crickets are entirely controllable under professional care. Our treatment goal is to stop a problem at its source so it doesn’t keep coming back. Using state-of-the art equipment and methods, our licensed exterminators will inspect your home’s environment and construction to identify the problem and determine the best course of action. Contact us today!

Why you get Camel Crickets

Camel Crickets are attracted to cool, moist, and humid areas in and around our homes. This cricket often invades storage buildings, crawlspaces, basements, garages and indoor areas where moisture is presents such as in a basement or laundry room. It’s normally just a nuisance pest, but they can damage stored items, such as garments and linens packed in boxes. They tend to become a problem when we have extremes in weather conditions, such as extended rains or periods of hot, and dry weather.

General Facts

There are several species of crickets that have a humpbacked appearance and are referred to as camel crickets, they do not chirp (field crickets chirp) and have no wings. Their long legs give them a spider-like appearance. They are brownish in color up to two inches long in body and 4 inches for the legs.

The bodies of baby crickets may appear translucent. They may instinctively jump towards a perceived threat in an intimidating manor but they don’t bite, have poor eyesight, and are not harmful.

Camel crickets are typically found in moist areas including under logs and stones, or in stacked firewood. Areas that are overgrown with vegetation such as ivy and other ground covers provide excellent hiding places. In early spring, adult females begin to lay eggs in the soil. A few weeks later, the nymphs hatch from these eggs.

Treatment of Premises

As with most other pest, effective control of Camel Crickets is a multi-stepped process.

It starts with eliminating harborage sites and reducing conditions that are conducive or attractive to these pests. Examine your home or building for holes or access areas to the outside.

• Caulk or seal gaps and openings around windows frames, doors, foundation and clothes dryer vents, crawlspace access doors, and soffits. Pay attention to areas where heating, plumbing, or air conditioning lines pass through walls or the foundation. Install weather-stripping along the bottom of house and garage doors so that it fits tightly against the threshold.
• To improve airflow around stored boxes in garages or storage buildings, stack them off the ground on skids or pallets. This helps improve airflow and makes it easier to check for crickets and other pests.
• Reduce moisture indoors, as well as in other critical areas such as basements or crawlspaces, and laundry rooms by using dehumidifiers and fixing leaking plumbing.
• Outside, it is wise to keep ground cover , mulch, and shrubs at least 12 inches or more away from the foundation. When possible, use an inorganic cover such as gravel up near the foundation. Remove piles of lumber or other clutter under decks that might attract crickets and other pests.
• Place sticky boards, such as those used for cockroaches and mice, in corners and behind appliances to catch crickets that enter your home.

If used, pesticides should focus on outdoor barrier treatments. Sprays can be very effective applied to foundation walls, around vents, crawlspace accesses, basement doors and windows. Indoors, common household (indoor) insecticides can be applied to baseboards, and areas behind appliances. Follow all directions on the packaging. However, please note that if you follow the steps outlined earlier for excluding these pests, the need for indoor applications should be reduced.