How to Identify and Get Rid of Spider Crickets

One of the many pests that can infest your home, spider crickets can be a frightening sight! Here’s all you need to know about spotting and dealing with these insects.

What are Spider Crickets?

Spider crickets, also known as camel crickets, cave crickets, or sprickets, are a specific species of crickets that is known for their long-legged and somewhat-humpbacked appearance. They are attracted to moisture and are naturally drawn to dark, damp places, making your basement an ideal hiding space.

What Do Spider Crickets Look Like?

As mentioned, spider crickets get their name from their long legs, and their colloquial camel cricket name comes from the slight hump they have in their back. Though it may initially appear that they have a lot of legs, spider crickets are in fact insects, meaning they have 6 legs. Fully grown spider crickets are between 0.5 – 1.5 inches in size, and will be a light or dark brown color. Try not to get too close if trying to look at a live specimen, as their long legs give them some strong jumping ability, which may give you a fright.

Do Spider Crickets Bite?

Despite their unnerving appearance, spider crickets do not pose a threat to you or your family. They lack fangs or any other meaningful jaw appendage that could potentially penetrate your skin. Whilst they can’t break the skin, spider crickets use their mandibles as a kind of exploratory organ, and will attempt to chew just about anything. This means that if one were to land on you, it could potentially give you a little nibble to try and figure out what you were.

What do Spider Crickets Eat?

Spider crickets are famous for being voracious eaters and spend large amounts of their life eating, commonly feeding on wood, fungal products, and other insects. When inside the home, they will remain looking for wood, but will add fabric to their diet, including carpets, curtains, and bedding.

Where do Spider Crickets Live?

As another of their names suggests, the natural habitat of spider crickets is in dark, damp caves and other underground locations. Woodland is also a common spot for spider crickets to live, making their homes in the undergrowth and fallen leaves, which provide the food, moisture, and cover that they crave.

If they get inside your home, they will look for a similar environment. Any dark and damp spaces such as garages, basements, and bathroom cupboards will be likely spots for these critters. Make sure to keep an eye out for spider crickets in the summer, as the hot months can cause the insects to move indoors seeking the dark and the damp that they prefer.

How to Prevent Spider Crickets

As with many pests, prevention is the easiest way to keep these pests out and not have to deal with their removal. Some prevention tips include:

• Caulking: Try to limit entry spots for these creatures by making sure you have good sealing in place.
• Keep your home clean: To stop spider crickets from having a good place to hide, try to keep any dark and damp areas clean and clear to stop them from feeling comfortable.
• Limit Moisture: A good dehumidifier as well as sealing up any leaky pipes will make sure that there will be as little moisture in the home as possible.

How To Get Rid of Spider Crickets

If you are already experiencing crickets in your home, here are a few methods which may help to limit the pest population. But make sure that you act quickly—spider crickets can multiply very quickly, so you need to be equally aggressive in attempting to remove them.

• Tape bait: A tried and tested home pest control method is to use store bought tape traps which will capture the bugs when they walk across them. Baiting the traps with food sources increases the chance that they will wander into the trap, and then you can just remove the pests.
• Sprays: There are multiple store bought sprays available that can kill spider crickets on sight, but this does require you to be active in your hunting.
• Professional pest control treatments: The best way to guarantee a spider cricket-free home is by calling in a professional pest control team that has the appropriate equipment and experience for the job.

If you need professional help for spider crickets or any other pest you are dealing with, make sure to call the team of local pest control experts at BOG Pest to learn more about how we can help you.