Learn how to get rid of crickets quickly
For some, a cricket's chirp may bring back fond memories of summer nights. But when you discover lots of crickets inside your home or hear a chorus outside every night, it becomes a different situation.
Most crickets won't damage your home, but they can be a nuisance all the same. Getting rid of them sooner than later is encouraged so they don't multiply. Here's how to get rid of crickets in the house or yard, plus prevent them from coming back.
Crickets are likely calling your yard home because they're able to find water, food (crumbs, fabric, even carpet), or shelter. Like any animal, when an outdoor location makes survival easier, crickets are likely to stick around—sometimes long enough to mate, and sometimes long enough for the early evenings to turn into a full cacophony of noise.
Crickets particularly prefer low-volume and low-movement areas where they feel comfortable away from predators. Quiet, shady places in your home, especially in unused areas or rooms, are bound to be a favorite for them.
Similarly, cracks in your windows and gaps beneath doors can invite crickets inside, initially to reap the benefits of warmth. This is why performing window maintenance and door repairs is essential.
Food spills, plumbing leaks, or moisture gathering from condensation somewhere in your home (like on a window) can also attract these pests.
The average pest control treatment costs $200 to $600, but getting rid of crickets only should be on the lower end. DIY cricket control costs much less, coming in at $10 to $20, depending on if you try multiple methods.
Is chirping a regular part of your morning? It might be time to check for a cricket infestation. If you need help figuring out what’s in (or outside) your home, hire a pest inspection pro near you.
Signs of crickets in your yard may include:
Excessive noises
Small mounds of dirt around the yard
Brown grass patches
Mounds or tunnels dug in your lawn
Signs of crickets in your home may include:
Chewed clothes or furniture
Chirping noises
Cricket droppings
Stained clothing
Having pests in your home is never fun, but you’ll want to identify the type of cricket you have. There are three types of crickets you may find in your home or yard: cave crickets, house crickets, and mole crickets.
Cave crickets: light brown and characterized by large hind legs
House crickets: yellowish brown with bands across their back and shorter legs
Mole crickets: burrow underground and not likely to be seen; short and stubby with dense heads and black, beady eyes
Mole crickets, in particular, are the most frustrating to deal with, as they live underneath the soil and can damage your lawn by pulling apart the soil. (They also tend to eat crops in your garden.)
Cave and house crickets are more of an aesthetic nuisance than anything but will munch on carpets, fabrics, and food crumbs in your home. If they're given the time to mate, you may wind up with a lot more of them in your home than you'd like.
Perhaps you're sick of hearing chirping during your morning coffee or mole crickets are damaging sections of your lawn. Not sure what to do next? Fret not—here are five strategies to get rid of crickets in your yard or home.
This first strategy actually works best in the yard for removing mole crickets but could be modified to work inside of a home, too.
Mix 2 tablespoons of dish soap with 1 gallon of water for every 2-square-foot area of your lawn you'd like to draw crickets out of. Gently distribute the water onto the ground. (Don't worry, the small amount of dish soap will be washed away later.)
The soap/water combination will draw crickets to the surface. From here, you have the choice to neutralize them using pest control spray—or just see what you're dealing with from a numbers standpoint. This proactive step can help you decide how you'll get rid of crickets in your yard later.
Leave strips of boric acid or boric acid balls in areas where you've seen crickets hanging out (inside or out). Wear gloves and a mask to avoid breathing it in. If you have kids or pets, read the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure this is the right choice for your home. Research boric acid for pest control carefully to ensure you use it safely.
When crickets walk over or eat the boric acid, the powder will damage their nervous system, quickly killing them. Look for dead crickets around your home and vacuum and clean your floors regularly.
You can leave cricket sticky traps out in high-volume areas. Crickets are naturally attracted to the substances on sticky glue traps ($7 for a roll at home improvement stores). They'll get trapped and die there, and you can simply throw the strips away when you're done.
For DIY traps, fill jars with molasses and water. Place these in small containers such as yogurt cups with one side cut out or on wax paper for easy disposal.
If crickets are visible in your home, try vacuuming up the adults and disposing of the trash afterward. Vacuuming is actually recommended regardless if you have an indoor infestation, because crickets tend to leave eggs in your home.
Even when you think they're gone, a fresh batch of baby crickets could be on its way in a week or so (eggs take around 13 days to hatch once laid). Vacuuming can help sweep these tiny eggs up even though you might not realize they're there, as well as remove adult crickets.
If you're worried you might have cricket eggs or are recovering from a total infestation of crickets, you may want to consider steam cleaning the floor or using a floor cleaner to kill any eggs you might miss with the vacuum.
Mix 1/2 cup red chilis or 1/4 cup chili powder with a few squirts of dish soap and water to make a light paste. Leave this natural pesticide near plants, puddles, or in high-volume traffic areas of the home. You can also dilute it with more water and use it as a spray.
Crickets don't like the smell and the peppers will burn them if they come in contact with the repellant, deterring them from returning to that area. Inside your home, you can put it out on strips of wax paper for easy disposal.
Crickets also strongly dislike the scent of peppermint, so making an insect repellant out of essential oils with water and spraying it in problem areas could also help.
Once you've got rid of the crickets in your home or yard, it's important to take preventative steps to ensure they don't return. If the problem persists, consider hiring a local exterminator to help.
Check your home's dark areas for remaining crickets/cricket eggs.
Vacuum/mop your floors every day for a few weeks.
Seal holes or cracks in windows or doors.
Eliminate moisture.
Prune trees and shrubs.
Remove puddles and stick piles from your yard.
Hiring a pest control company might make sense if you don't like the idea of DIY cricket removal, or if you believe the infestation is large and you'd rather be sure you get all of them. Many companies offer an assurance that if the problem persists after a treatment, they will return free of charge.
Crickets, like many types of bugs, may be attracted to light sources in your yard or home. Specifically, white lights seem to attract crickets, so switching to yellow bulbs might be helpful if you have an infestation. Mole crickets, the type that lives underground, are the exception, as they don't seem to be attracted to light.
Tiny openings in windows, plumbing, crawl spaces, and beneath doors are all places crickets can easily get into your home. Some crickets are less than 1/3 an inch in size, so sealing off even small entrance points in your home is important for keeping bugs outside.
Warm months are the most active for crickets, typically August and September when it's not too hot. The cricket chirping noises you hear in the summer are actually—in some cases—the male mating call of a cricket.
Cricket's life spans are only about eight weeks outdoors, but can live up to a year inside when all their needs are met. Cricket eggs take about 13 days to hatch from the time they are laid, which is a relatively short time frame to locate and remove them before they hatch. This is why regular deep-cleans and vacuuming are important when you have an infestation.
