You may not think that crickets are pests, but they are indeed. While you may equate them with the sounds of a warm summer evening, truth is, crickets (related to katydids and grasshoppers) should not be living in your home and invading your lawn. Here’s why crickets are considered pests and why you need proper pest control in Phoenix to address severe problems.
Chirping Crickets
Most of the cricket chirps you hear at night are from males as the rub their wings together hoping to attract females or when they feel threatened. In nature, we do need crickets to supply food to many animals and insects. They are the natural prey of scorpions, which is good for the scorpions, but not for you as the homeowner. If you have a lot of crickets in your yard, you will also have a lot of scorpions!
All that chirping can certainly be annoying! In fact, cricket chirps can reach a maddeningly loud 100 decibels!
Thankfully, crickets don’t bite or sting, nor do they transmit disease. But they still do need to be controlled. If you’ve ever been trying to sleep with the windows open on a warm night, you know how constant, shrill, and disruptive those crickets can be to your sleep patterns.
Property Damage
In addition to all the noise, crickets can cause serious damage to your home. They will eat through fabrics and materials of all kinds, even wallpaper glue. They like to burrow in food, prepared meals and packaging, so if you run a restaurant, this can be a big detriment to the safety of your patrons.
Common Crickets
The most common crickets in Phoenix are Indian house crickets, measuring ¾ inches long with tan or yellow-brown coloring. Field crickets are also common, and they are a bit longer than one inch, with dark brown or black coloring. These crickets hang out in both urban and suburban areas.
If you have a sprinkler system in your yard, you are unwittingly attracting crickets because they love moisture, and your home provides the warmth and shelter they need. Summer is when they are at their peak, hiding during the day but coming out at night to mate and eat.
What Can You Do?
There are some things you can do to make sure your home doesn’t become a breeding ground for crickets. They can get into your home via cracks in your foundation, stacks of firewood, in rock piles, and in mulch. Keep firewood and vegetation as far away from your home as possible. Crickets will seek entry into your house to look for food, water and cozy temps.
Turn exterior lights off at night and make sure you don’t leave dead plants around, as they like to feed on decaying organic matter. Replace damaged screens, and caulk gaps and cracks around the perimeter of your home. Keep the kitchen clean and mop up crumbs after eating.
While crickets aren’t outright dangerous, they are what we call a nuisance pest, causing indirect damage to your home or business.
Get Rid Of Annoying Crickets in Phoenix, AZ
Got crickets? You need the proper cricket control by trusted Mesa AZ exterminators. To book an inspection and free quote, contact us today at 602-338-9223.