How to Get Rid of Crickets in Your Arizona House
Short answer: catch the ones inside, then shut the door on the rest. Gaps under doors, bright lights and pet food are what bring crickets into Phoenix-area homes.
Crickets in Arizona Homes: Which One Do You Have?
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension names two crickets as the most common in Arizona homes. Which one you have decides how hard it is to get rid of:
- Indian house cricket: about 3/4 inch, light tan with darker bands. Common in the low desert, and the only cricket here that can live and breed indoors. If you see small tan crickets month after month, it's this one.
- Field cricket: a little over an inch, dark brown to shiny black. It lives and breeds outdoors and does not reproduce inside, but it slips in under doors, especially in fall as nights cool.
- Jerusalem cricket: 1 1/2 to 2 inches, a big round head and a striped, bulbous abdomen. No wings, no chirp. It wanders in by accident and isn't an infestation.
Why Crickets Come Into Phoenix-Area Houses
Crickets hide by day and come out at night to feed on crumbs, pet food and plant debris, and to find water, including pet bowls. Porch and garage lights pull them to the house, and worn door sweeps and weather stripping let them in. New subdivisions on the desert edge and irrigated yards see the most. Crickets are also food for scorpions, spiders and centipedes, so a heavy cricket season feeds them.
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Signs of a Cricket Infestation (Not Just a Stray)
- Chirping from the same room, closet or garage night after night.
- Small tan crickets showing up in several seasons, which points to Indian house crickets breeding inside.
- Fabric that looks rough or pulled, especially stained clothing, rugs or carpet edges (University of Arizona Cooperative Extension).
- Dead crickets and droppings in the garage or along baseboards. The University of Arizona notes large die-offs can smell and draw ants and flies.
- Spiders, black widows or scorpions turning up where the crickets are.
How to Get Rid of Crickets: 7 Steps
These steps follow University of Arizona Cooperative Extension guidance:
- Remove the ones inside. A vacuum, fly swatter or a cup and card. Follow the chirp at night with a flashlight.
- Seal the way in. Caulk and weather-strip gaps in the foundation, siding, windows and doors, and repair torn screens.
- Fix the doors. Install door sweeps and keep doors closed at night. Check that the garage door seals tight to the slab.
- Change the lights. Turn off outdoor lights when you can, or switch to yellow bug bulbs near doors.
- Clear the foundation. Pull plant debris, leaf piles and clutter back from the walls, and check potted plants near doors.
- Take away food and water. Store pet food sealed, pick up bowls at night, keep the kitchen clean and fix leaks.
- Bait, then spot-treat. Cricket baits work well indoors. Diatomaceous earth can go in dry hiding spots (wear a dust mask; see diatomaceous earth and scorpions for how to use it). Use insecticide only as a last resort, in cracks and crevices, never as a room spray, and follow the label.
Cricket Control in Phoenix: What the Service Does and Costs
If crickets keep coming back, a visit treats the entry points, garage door seals and foundation line where they get in, recommends simple lighting changes near the doors, and times treatment ahead of the late-summer swarm. The same perimeter treatment covers the scorpions and spiders that follow them. A one-time diagnostic visit with treatment is $149. The plan is $50/month with treatment every 60 days and free callbacks. Start a plan the same day and your visit fee covers your first 3 months of the plan. See cricket control and pest control cost.
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Learn More From Authoritative Sources
- University of Arizona Cooperative Extension — Managing Crickets (Backyard Gardener, J. Schalau)
- University of Arizona Home & School IPM — Fall Pests and Pest Prevention Check List (Nair, Gouge & Li, 2020)
- University of Arizona Cooperative Extension — Cricket Management (AZ1004)
- University of Arizona Cooperative Extension — Jerusalem Crickets (Backyards & Beyond, S. Shank)
Cricket Questions from Arizona Homeowners
How do I get rid of crickets in my house?
Catch or vacuum the ones you can find, then cut off the way in and the food. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension recommends sealing gaps with caulk and weather stripping, fitting door sweeps (garage doors too), turning off or switching outdoor lights to yellow bug bulbs, clearing debris and plants away from the foundation, storing pet food, and using cricket bait indoors. Insecticide is a last resort, applied only into cracks where they hide.
Why are there so many crickets in my house right now?
In Arizona, field crickets live outdoors but come inside through gaps under doors, and the University of Arizona notes they move indoors as temperatures drop in fall. Bright lights pull them to the house at night. If you keep finding small tan crickets in every season, it may be the Indian house cricket, the one species that can breed indoors.
Do crickets bite or carry disease?
No. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension says house and field crickets don't bite and don't carry diseases. The trouble is the chirping, and in high numbers they chew fabric, carpet and even drywall. Jerusalem crickets are different: they can give a painful pinch if handled carelessly.
Is a Jerusalem cricket dangerous?
It looks alarming, but University of Arizona Cooperative Extension describes it as docile, a solitary digger that doesn't attack people, doesn't fly and isn't a garden pest. It can bite hard if grabbed. One in the house usually wandered in through an open door; scoop it into a container and put it outside.
Can I tell the temperature from a cricket chirp?
Roughly. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension gives a field rule: count the chirps in 13 seconds and add 40 to estimate the temperature in °F. Only males chirp, by rubbing their wings together.
Do crickets attract scorpions?
Crickets are food for hunters like scorpions, black widows and centipedes, so a yard full of crickets feeds them. Cutting the cricket supply and sealing door gaps is part of keeping scorpions and spiders out too.