"Cave Crickets" In Basement archived

There have been multiple threads on Cave Crickets, all featuring pictures (I think--I'm too afraid to check). If you are brave you can use search to find the information.

http://forum.maplewoodonline.com/vc/discussion/76867/
http://forum.maplewoodonline.com/vc/discussion/61572/
http://forum.maplewoodonline.com/vc/discussion/44191/
http://forum.maplewoodonline.com/vc/discussion/41616/
http://forum.maplewoodonline.com/vc/discussion/13073/
http://forum.maplewoodonline.com/vc/discussion/13058/


However, it would be nice to have a Cave Cricket thread with information only and NO PICTURES, so some of us could read it. So far I have not had Cave Crickets, but I'm sure it's just because I'm not looking hard enough. I'd like to have a number handy when the inevitable happens.

We got these sticky things at Home Depot, can't remember the name, but are they toward the back of the store near the garden store. I just asked a guy for "those sticky things" that get cave crickets and he led me right to them. We have caught around fifty, in one garage and others in the basement, near the french drains and the sump pump where the seem to be coming from. They are attracted to the scent of these sticky things, for lack of a better word.

Yes, the sticky things, especially the ones with an attractant chemical in them. Stick one or two in the basement, throw out and replace when they are gross with dead crickets....

Isn't there a way to get rid of them permanently?

No, this is the season the come up from the ground seeking warmth, but honestly I never had them until about 5 years ago.

Thanks, sticky things seem gross! We have never had a problem before either. However, until Irene our basement was finished and now it looks like it was never unfinished

I'm gross out! Don't even know if I can go down there.

If I called someone, could they help to get rid of them? And who could I call?

The sticky things are a bit gross, but they work, are cheap, and don't require spraying chemicals more broadly. I just scoop them up into a plastic bag and seal so that I don't have to touch things too much. I put them where they are out of sight and swap them once or twice a year when they are crowded with bugs, or when I see a live bug again.

Yes, it's pretty gross. You could try Buckingmam pest control 973-762-6760, don't know what, if anything, they do for this, let us know what you find out, I am grossed out too.

What a brave woman. You might think about a little side business picking up Cave Cricket traps for the timid.

@Susan, maybe I'll hire you!

I will call Buckingham as well and see if they do anything other than the traps.

I will get back to everyone!

EWW!!! I have so much laundry to do and I am afraid to go down there!

Years ago pest control people were allowed to scatter small pellets of Baygon bait discretely in corners of basements etc. This hurries the crickets, actually called camel back crickets, on to their demise. Don't know if it is still allowed.

They are attracted to what is practically an invisible mold in basements. Anything you can do to keep the humidity/moisture level down in the basement helps. Glue traps are not pleasant but they work.

They really are harmless. We had them in an unfinished corner of our basement, but after a major flood and basement remodel, that corner is now finished, so no more cave crickets. I used to like seeing them, actually. But I did notice that if they got into a bucket, they couldn't seem to get out and we'd find dead ones in the bottom of the bucket. So, I started storing it upside-down. Maybe you could see if a bucket in that corner would attract them (fatally) to eliminate them. My mother-in-law was terrified of them, too, but they are quite harmless.

"Screw your courage to the sticking place..." Shakespeare, Macbeth.
No woman should allow a fear of bugs to keep her out of her own basement! Remember, you are bigger than they are!

We had them too in our unfinished basement. They like dark, damp places so we have been doing the opposite - keeping the lights on and having a dehumidifier running pretty much constantly, plus using the "sticky paper" from Home Depot and they all left. We don't see any now.
They are harmless, HOWEVER, their defense mechanism is to jump at you to freak you out. They are ugly and disgusting looking.

Thanks for that information flf, I'm already having nightmares and I'm not even asleep.

Agreed that they are harmless, but if I didn't deal with them, I couldn't send my kids to the dungeon/basement on errands!

We put a dehumidifier in the basement and haven't seen one since.

I am now emptying out my humidifier every day and checking to see if we need a second round.

Make sure you're using a dehumidifier, not a humidifier.

check!

Gotta get one!

i have them like crazy. glue boards and more glue boards. i bought them in bulk from amazon. as far as i can tell they're pretty tough to beat if your basement has a might level of humidity. they are harmless, but man they freak me out too.

We have the little jumping shrimps too. They don't much bother me and they die off in winter, but my family members use the sticky things. They are just strips of glue. I feel very bad for the ones that get caught. They fill up with the crickets. One night I heard my cat coming upstairs with a clunk, clunk, clunk,., I went to see what wasup, she had one of them on her paw and lugged it up from the basement.

So if I have dhumidifer that's my best bet? I am trying to utilise my basement and my son always ends
up running upstairs!

We have them, with dehumidifier...

So are they really harmless?

Id pair them with a sauvignon blanc

What about a chardonnay?

unoaked...an oaky chardonnay will overwhelm the flavor...unless you are preparing them in a butter or cream sauce, then by all means, go for the classic CA chardonnay style

So are they seasonal?