Homeschool Zoo Annex

Crickets

I never used to consider crickets as a pest, but they really are when they're in your house. Just recently, I've lost several items of clothing to crickets. They chew fabric and make holes in it, making the garment not wearable.

I discovered this fact a number of years ago and have been pretty successful in keeping them out of the house. However, I'm finding that they are in the house where I'm currently living.

I rarely see them and never hear them. Last week, I saw one going across the living room floor. The cat made short work of it. These are the fat, brown ones like people use for fish bait. I usually see them walking instead of jumping. Maybe they are too full of my clothes to jump!

I looked them up on the Net and this is what I've learned:

• Crickets are omnivorous.
• They will chew wet paper or fabric just to get the moisture from it.
• Crickets will eat dead bugs or other crickets.
• Crickets that eat holes in clothing will dine on anything from cotton to leather, including rayon, silk, and other fibers.

After reading the Ohio University Online site about various crickets, I believe what I have in my house are camel crickets, due to their brown appearance and hump back. They haven't been chirping - only quietly destroying my clothes. This means I've got to get some bug killer around my dresser, in my dresser drawers, and in any other places they might be lurking. They like living in damp areas, such as under logs and in crawl spaces under houses, so I'll need to check everything out carefully. One thing I can definitely do is rake all leaves far away from my house foundation to discourage them from hiding under them.

Labels: Science

posted by hszoo @ 9:07 PM