In China, having a cricket in your home is a sign of good luck. In fact, to some, crickets are so revered, once captured, they are adorned with special little cricket houses, fed well and tended to daily. When they sing their glorious song it’s considered joyful music.
For many of us here in the United States, the sound of crickets chirping is not so bad when you are camping or enjoying the great outdoors. Once these critters happen to make their way inside your home, the music that they make can drive you batty!
Typically living outdoors, crickets will enter buildings through small cracks around windows, foundations, in siding, and spaces under doors. Crickets are closely related to grasshoppers and cockroaches.
There are three types of crickets that you will find in New Jersey…
• House cricket – light yellowish brown, with long thin antennae and three darker brown bands on the head. House crickets prefer to reside in warm places such as kitchens, basement areas, and near the fireplace. These omnivorous critters are attracted to water, are nocturnal and chirp non-stop. Once inside, they can be destructive to silk and woolens and will eat most anything that humans eat.
• Field cricket – there are six different species in North America. Once they invade a home, they will attack cotton, wool, silk and linen items.
• Camel crickets – these crickets have a hump-back appearance of a camel and fragile legs. They are excellent jumpers, nocturnal, and never chirp. Cricket populations can be reduced by hiring a licensed New Jersey pest control expert.
Allison Pest Control will be able to provide a protective barrier treatment for your home or business to help protect you from invading crickets as well as many other types of unwanted insects.