I saw this insect in my loft apartment in Augusta, GA. The building is relatively old, somewhere around 60-80 years old I would guess. Anyhow, the insect I’m writing about is a cricket-like animal with grasshopper-ish big legs. It’s relatively gray/brown in color, and quite ugly if I say so myself. Definitely not as exotic looking as a house centipede (which, by perusing through your site, I found out are the things that are also some of my roommates from time to time!). Anyways, it looks harmless, but it’s kind of big in >hat it has a body roughly the size of a marble (maybe a little smaller, or bigger for that matter), and those hind legs are just huge compared to it’s body in that the body is not as elongated as a cricket or a grasshopper. Great sight!
Dear David,
It could be a Camel Cricket, family Rhaphidophoridae. See if this photo looks right.
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Posted 15 July 2003
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Austin, Texas
We live in an older house – it was empty several years so we have all kinds of bugs which we try to keep out of the house! Our worse invader is the scorpian after my husband was stung. But we also have a horrible time keeping the katydids out of the house. They come out at night and get on us – after the scorpian sting scares you to death. We kill probably 10 a night – between the 3 bedrooms. Even though they have been harmless I do not want them in the house – can you tell me how to get rid of them? Thanks!
Are you sure they are katydids? which are green and look like grasshoppers. I’m suspecting you have crickets, a common prey of scorpions. Bugs get into the house. Perhaps you should have a contractor find out where all the points of entry are and seal up the foundation.
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Posted 03 June 2003
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How can one get rid of crickets that have found their way into the house?
Catch them and release them.
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Posted 21 May 2003
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To whom it may concern:
My children and I want to keep a singing cricket as a pet. We have tried crickets from the pet store and from our garden, but they never sing in the house. We have a nice cage with food they seem to like; and we have made sure that we keep males. How can we get one to sing?
Maria in Buffalo, NY
Dear Maria in Buffalo,
I guess you already know that you must have a male cricket to get singing. I have known people who bought large quantities of crickets from the pet store to use in art installations as a sound component, so I know that pet store crickets will sing, though their songs are frail. Additionally, store crickets, usually European House Crickets (Acheta domesticus) are not very attractive, since they are an anemic shade of tan. Garden crickets or Field Crickets (Gryllus species) are a beautiful glossy black and have a robust chirp. Singing generally occurs in spring and early summer. I had a Field Cricket move into my bathroom sink drain many years ago, and it managed to hide somewhere in the pipes whenever I ran the water, though I was careful to not scald the free-loader. My cricket would sing constantly. I would recommend locating a cricket in your garden by tracking its chirp. Give it a cool, dark place and hope for the best. I cannot come up with a logical reason why your captives are mute, and I would suggest patience. Give the guy a chance to adapt, and eventually his romantic inclinations should bring on the song.
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Posted 01 August 2002
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Dear What’s that Bug,
Being from Georgia I am used to hearing insects chirping at night and even bullfrogs doing their thing in the backyard. I am fond of these sounds and find them relaxing. And I know that having a cricket inside is supposed to be good luck. (Or is it just good luck if it is in your closet?)
However, the cricket or other chirping insect that is currently residing in my bathroom is not making me happy or relaxed. In fact, it is getting on my nerves and disturbing my sleep. I want to know what I should do. I don’t want to hear this sound that sort of echoes around in my empty bathroom but I don’t really want to kill this bug, nor would I really know how.
I have not spotted the bug, but it is really making it’s presence known. Any advice?
Thanks!
Amanda
Dear Amanda,
There are many folk beliefs in existence about crickets. Their presence in the home is generally thought to be an omen of good fortune in many parts of the world, and in China they are kept in captivity. The Chinese also match crickets for combat in a sport that is as popular there as cock fighting is in other countries. Extravagant wages are made on the outcome of championship fights.
The most common species in Southern California is the Tree Cricket (Oecanthus sp.) which is generally found in gardens and is almost always heard and not seen. They are usually green or white in color and only about 1/2 an inch long. It is common knowledge that the chirp rate of this cricket varies with the surrounding temperature, increasing at higher degrees and decreasing at lower ones. This fact has inspired formulas for calculating the temperature from the number of chirps per minute. The Snowy Tree Cricket, also called the Thermometer Cricket (Oecanthus fultoni) indicates the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit if one counts the number of chirps in 13 seconds and adds 40.
Your tenant is, however, more likely another type of cricket. Field Crickets (Gryllus sp.) are much larger than tree crickets, with body lengths up to 1 1/4 inches. Field Crickets live on the ground in fissures and under litter, vegetation and stones. They sometimes sing in the morning or late afternoon, but more usually at night when they come out to feed on all sorts of organic matter. They occasionally enter homes and become a nuisance by their unwelcome presence and incessant chirping.
A third possibility is that you are hosting a European House Cricket (Acheta domesticus) which are about 3/4 inch long as straw-brown in color. The species was apparently introduced into the eastern United States from Europe, although its original home may have been Africa. It has since become widespread in Southern California, where it is usually associated with human habitations. Lacking a dormancy period and hence being easy to raise, it is sold as fish bait and animal food in pet stores. Its chirp is frail and attracts less attention than that of its Field Cricket relatives. Bathrooms and kitchens are the most likely places to find crickets in the home.
I once had one who lived in the drain of my bathroom sink and I found its chirping to be quite soothing. I think you should lighten up and surrender to the sounds of nature.
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Posted 01 January 2000
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