The Creepiest Crickets Ever Seen in Knoxville

The Creepiest Crickets Ever Seen in Knoxville

If you’ve heard someone talk about camel crickets and the name makes you gasp, you’re not alone. Imagining a cricket-camel hybrid is terrifying. We can ease your fear by assuring you that camel crickets are not the size of a camel. They get their name from their humped backs. However, these pests do look like spiders. If you’ve never heard of camel crickets, or even if you have, keep reading for answers to all your camel cricket-questions.

What are camel crickets?

Camel crickets, also called spider crickets, cave crickets, and sprickets, are creepy pests. They look a lot like spiders but are a kind of cricket with a humped back and long legs. They also have long antennae, which is what gives them a spider-like appearance. They are brown and tan and can be around ½ an inch to 1 ½ inches long.

How do camel crickets get inside?

Camel crickets can get inside through cracks in the exterior of your home or tears in the screens around your windows or doors. They come inside looking for shelter and often hide out in basements. They like cool, damp, dark areas. Besides basements, you might find them in crawl spaces, storage areas, or garages.

Do camel crickets die in the winter?

Camel crickets, unfortunately, can be year-round pests. If they get inside, they can live out the winter inside your Knoxville home. In fact, during the fall months and early winter, you may see more camel crickets than at any other time of year since they’ll be looking for warm places to spend the winter and will be seeking shelter in your home.

Can camel crickets hurt you?

Camel crickets don’t bite or sting. They also aren’t known to carry dangerous diseases or bacteria. That means the short answer is no. However, they are considered nuisance pests. They don’t chirp like other crickets do, but their chewing noises can be loud and annoying. Plus, they can be terrifying pests to have around. Their defense mechanism when scared is to jump straight at you… something that can be horrible to experience when you’re trying to relax in your home. Plus, their chewing can cause expensive damage to your home. They eat fabrics, so you may begin to see holes in clothing, upholstery, curtains, bedding, and more.

How do you get rid of camel crickets?

The best way to get rid of camel crickets is to stop them from getting in. Check the exterior of your home for holes or cracks that may be acting as entry points for camel crickets. You can also keep them out by making your home less appealing to them. Use a dehumidifier and fans in damp and infrequently used areas of your home, like the basement and garage. This will keep the humidity levels down so that camel crickets seek shelter elsewhere.

If you aren’t sure how to keep camel crickets from getting inside, or if they keep getting in despite your best efforts, ask Russell’s Pest Control for help. We have the experience to help you identify these creepy-crawly creatures, and we know how to keep them outside. Our pest control treatment plans are effective and personalized, so you won’t ever have to see these scary pests again.

Are Camel Crickets Dangerous?

Are Camel Crickets Dangerous?

Camel crickets get their common name from their appearance, as they are humpbacked like camels. They may also be known as cave crickets or spider crickets. They are often found in caves, and in damp, cool areas under leaves, stones, and logs that are rotting. Camel crickets exist in large numbers across the Tennessee and the rest of the United States. Their lifespan is between one and two years.

Identifying Camel Crickets

Camel crickets do not produce sound, as they don’t have any organs which allow them to do so. They do not have wings, instead, they use their large back legs and long antennae to help them get around in the dark spaces where they gather. When frightened, camel crickets tend to leap. This is their defense mechanism, and basically the only way they can scare off predators.

Camel crickets are light to dark brown in color, and may have spots with lighter or darker areas. Adult camel crickets can grow to between thirteen and thirty-three millimeters in length.

Problems Camel Crickets Cause

Camel crickets really do not pose any health threats to humans. They don’t have fangs and cannot bite, are not poisonous, and are not known to carry any diseases.

Camel crickets can become a nuisance, though, if they get into your home. Some species may damage clothing and other fabrics, like curtains. Their diet consists of wood, carpet, fungi, cardboard, other insects, and even other camel crickets at times. They can create a lot of damage as their numbers grow, and that is the last thing you want to happen in your home!

How to Prevent Camel Crickets

Preventing a camel cricket infestation takes work. Though these pests are not dangerous to your health and won’t hurt you, they can be a real nuisance.

Here are a few things you can do to help keep them out of your home and off your property:

  • Reduce areas of moisture in and around your home. You may choose to use a dehumidifier to prevent moisture build-up inside.
  • Seal points of entry around your home, such as gaps under and around doors and windows, cracks in your foundation, and tears or rips in window screens.
  • Ventilate crawl spaces, basements, and attics.
  • Firewood should be stored no less than twenty feet away from your house.
  • Remove debris from your yard.
  • Outdoor garbage cans should be moved away from the exterior walls of your home.
  • Tall grasses on your property should be mowed to a manageable length.

Getting Rid of Camel Crickets

If you believe you have a camel cricket infestation in your home, contact a licensed pest control professional right away. The professionals at Russell’s Pest Control will conduct an inspection of both the interior and exterior of your home. We will work with you to develop a treatment plan to rid your home of camel crickets. Give us a call to learn more. 

Most Likely Places Camel Crickets Will Be Found

Most Likely Places Camel Crickets Will Be Found

Likely you’ve never even heard of a camel cricket, but if you see one chances are you will never forget it! Camel crickets have a spider-like appearance and a humped back with large back legs. They do not have wings nor do they fly, but they sure look like they are flying when they leap at you and go soaring through the air. These brown little creatures are surely a pest you don’t want to share your space with. Camel crickets like to chew, and they can destroy your upholstery, fabrics, and clothing.  

Outside in nature, you will find them hiding out in rotting leaf piles, under decks, near drain spouts, and more. They will find sources of moisture to inhabit such as by leaky outdoor faucets or in clogged gutters. When it gets too hot or dry out, camel crickets will find their way into your home. They will often take up residence in dark damp basements, crawl spaces, and sometimes improperly sealed attics. They will settle anywhere they can find a cool, moist area.

The easiest way to avoid getting a camel cricket infestation is to remove sources of moisture. Rake up any leaf piles and remove rotting leaves from around your home. Make sure all outdoor faucets are not leaking and that gutters and drain spots are clear and functioning properly. Seal up cracks in foundations and windows that might allow water to enter. Run a dehumidifier in basements and attics to keep those areas dry.

If you already have a camel cricket infestation, you may want to take a more dedicated and intensive approach. The professionals at Russell’s Pest Control are fully equipped to seek out the dark corners and creepy spaces that camel crickets will hide in. These nocturnal creatures are difficult for a homeowner to find. Russell’s Pest Control can come out and do a one-time treatment, or they can work with you to come up with a pest control plan that will not only eliminate the camel cricket problem but will help you avoid one again in the future.

Camel Cricket Prevention Tips

Camel Cricket Prevention Tips

When it comes to camel crickets there is good news and bad news; let’s first start with the good news, these crickets aren’t particularly dangerous and they don’t make annoying chirping sounds like their relatives the house cricket. Now for the bad news, these crickets are very creepy looking, invade in clusters, and spiders love to eat them. If you have camel crickets in your home, it will not be long before spiders are trying to get in as well. 

Let’s first, begin with a description of what camel crickets look like so you can better understand why these pests creep so many people out. Camel crickets have a hunched body, 3 pairs of legs with their back legs being much larger in size, and very long antennae. Camel crickets are wingless; adults range in color from a very light tan to dark brown and they often have dark bands of color on various parts of their body. Camel cricket tend to scare people not only because of their unattractive looks but because when they are startled and jump away in defense they can look very spider-like!

Camel crickets are also commonly referred to as cave crickets because they like to live outside in cool, dark, damp places, including you guessed it, caves! While they usually like living outside in dark, damp, cool places like under landscaping ties, mulch, stones, and logs they will move inside when the weather no longer suites them. If the weather becomes too hot or dry, they look to move inside homes and other buildings, usually congregating in damp basements, crawl spaces or other areas that provide them with the cool, humid environment that they are seeking. Camel crickets despite having the ability to bite, are generally considered to be nuisance pests. To help prevent these pests from becoming an annoyance to you and your family we suggest reducing humidity levels in your home by installing dehumidifiers in basement areas and making sure that crawl spaces are properly ventilated. Additional prevention tips include:

  • Repairing cracks in the foundation, placing door sweeps underneath of basement doors, and caulking gaps found around basement doors and windows. Seal all possible entry points found on the exterior of your home.

  • Reducing areas of clutter and debris is basement areas. The less “things” they have to hide in, the easier it will be to find and eliminate them.

  • Storing fire woodpiles a distance away from the exterior of your home.

  • Removing piles of leaves, grass, and other debris that camel crickets can live and hide under from your property.

The best way to prevent camel crickets, the spiders that eat the crickets, and other household pests from invading your home and becoming a nuisance is to put into place a year-round pest control program from the pest professionals at Russell’s Pest Control. All of our highly effective Power programs control and prevent infestations from annoying and damaging pests and protect your home, family and pets against 30+ common household pests. Call us today to learn more about camel crickets and how we can work together to keep camel crickets and other pests out of your home all year long!