Stop Camel Crickets From Invading Your Home

This story was written by Tara Conry.

Jumpy bugs. Hippity Hops. Cave crickets.  

That's just some of the names local residents have given to these critters that have invaded their homes, particularly their basements. Their actual name is Rhaphidophoridae, but they are commonly called camel crickets because of their "humpbacked appearance," according to North Carolina University's Department of Entomology Web site.   

Unlike field crickets, these strange-looking creatures have no wings and they do not chirp, but they can jump very high, which they usually do when they are startled. For instance, when they detect, using their antennae, that someone is approaching or if you throw a shoe at them.   

"The best thing to do is caulk around cracks, crevices and holes," Howard Ryder, of All Ways Exterminating Co. in Lynbrook, told Patch when asked how to deter the bugs from invading homes. "They love dampness and moisture."  

Ryder explained that since camel crickets have "no real body structure" they are able to contort themselves to squeeze into even the smallest cracks to get inside your home. Outdoors these crickets hide in cluttered garages, near leaky gutters, underneath decks and in piles of leaves. But when the temperature drops, they seek shelter indoors, mainly in dark basements and crawl spaces.   

Long Beach resident Dot Richards said that she has the bugs in the basement of her former home in New Jersey and got rid of them by leaving the lights on 24/7, she wrote in replay to a question about the on Patch’s Facebook page. But Jennifer Wheeler Reznick, another former New Jersey resident, said she tried keeping the lights on but the critters just got immune to the illumination. “Even had an exterminator and they still came back,” Reznick wrote. “It was awful!”   

Another Long Beach resident, Kathy Krause, said she found a few of the bugs in her home last fall. “They love to hang out in piles of dead leaves, so get rid of these, and they eat dead bugs so make sure when you kill one to clean it up,” she wrote.  

Ryder advises homeowners to clear away leaves under your deck or around your home, as well as cleaning out your garage, ventilating crawl spaces, cutting back bushes, fixing leaky gutters and making sure your sprinkler is not hitting your house, all as a way to deter camel crickets from nesting nearby and ultimately invading.  

If you can't afford an exterminator, Ryder suggests putting down glue boards, which can be purchased at most home improvement stores, and place them around the basement walls and inside crawl spaces.   

An exterminator will most likely install these, too, but they'll also apply a granular bait, such as InTice, and a residual chemical inside every crack, crevice and crawlspace both inside and outside the home, he added. The one that his company uses is safe to use around pets and kids, although he won't apply it if any of the home's residents are pregnant or under the age of 1.

Do you have these critters in your home? Tell us about it and what's worked (or not worked) for you? See what readers had to say about the critters on our Facebook page.