Description
Crickets are black, brown, or green insects, up to 1½ inches long, that are closely related to grasshoppers (see Grasshoppers). Outdoors they feed on many plants; indoors they feed on clothes or other materials that have food or perspiration on them. Some crickets are beneficial, feeding on aphids and other small pests. Crickets fly or jump with their long legs, and have long antennae that reach down their backs. The males produce a loud chirping sound by rubbing together parts of their front wings. Females have long, spear-shaped ovipositors (egg-laying organs). Depending on the species, females insert eggs either in the soil or in plant tissue, which may kill the tissue. Crickets have chewing mouthparts and feed at night on foliage, flowers, seeds, and seedlings, or on other insects. They hide during the day in trash, around plants, along walkways, at the foot of walls or fences, or in the ground. The ground species are called mole crickets. (For more information about mole crickets, see Mole Crickets.) Crickets also invade homes, especially in the fall when their natural food supply disappears.
Control
If crickets become a problem in the garden, spray with an insecticide containing chlorpyrifos or diazinon, or spread a bait containing carbaryl in a 2- to 4-foot band around ornamental plants or other areas where crickets congregate.
