Spider crickets go by many names: camel crickets, cave crickets, criders, and crazy hoppers. Whatever the label, finding them in a basement or garage is unsettling, and they are more destructive than their harmless appearance suggests. They cannot bite or chirp, but they damage paper, cardboard, fabrics, and houseplants, and they multiply fast in damp hiding spots.
Spider crickets are not spiders, so the control tactics differ from eight-legged pests. The methods for how to get rid of spider mites target outdoor plants, while indoor cricket control starts with the building envelope, moisture levels, and traps.
Acting quickly matters because the population curve is steep. A few crickets in a damp basement can become hundreds within a season, and the damage to stored goods, insulation, and houseplants climbs with the count. Early treatment is cheaper and faster than a full cleanup later.
What Is a Spider Cricket?
Up close, a spider cricket has six legs, not eight, with two long, muscular hind legs built for jumping. The wingless body is brownish and humped, with long antennae and large, beady eyes. The spider resemblance comes from the leg length and the habit of leaping straight at anything that startles them.
Spider crickets are omnivorous. They eat fungi, plant matter, paper products, garments, and other insects, including their own kind. Indoors they concentrate where humidity is high: basements, crawl spaces, garages, utility rooms, and the space under sinks.
Look for the signs before you see the insects: chewed cardboard edges, shredded paper, and irregular holes in stored fabric are typical damage. Droppings collect along baseboards in infested rooms, and the crickets themselves scatter the moment a light flicks on.
Because the entry routes and hiding spots overlap with other cricket species, the natural methods used to get rid of crickets inside your house apply directly to spider crickets, and the same walk-around inspection covers both.
Spider crickets slip through gaps a quarter inch wide, which is why foundation cracks and utility openings are such common entry points. They travel at night, when the house is quiet, and settle in the first damp corner they find, so the inspection should cover the perimeter and the damp rooms in the same pass.
Spider cricket versus lookalikes
| Feature | Spider cricket | House cricket | Spider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legs | Six, two long hind legs | Six, similar length | Eight |
| Body | Wingless, humped, brown | Winged, slender, tan to black | Two segments |
| Sound | None | Chirps at night | None |
| Habitat | Damp basements, crawl spaces | Warm indoor spots | Varies by species |
| Damage | Paper, fabric, plants | Fabric, plants | Feeds on insects |
Why they jump at you
The jump is defensive, not aggressive. A spider cricket has no bite or sting to fall back on, so it springs away from threats, often straight at the source of the disturbance. Knowing that makes removal less alarming and makes the work easier.
Seven Ways to Get Rid of Spider Crickets
Spider crickets congregate in large numbers, hide well, and move fast, so a single method rarely finishes the job. Combine several tactics for a few weeks and the population drops sharply, then stays down. Start with the least toxic options and escalate only if the infestation persists.
- Seal entry points. Caulk cracks in the foundation, siding, windows, doors, plumbing lines, and dryer vents, then add weatherstripping and insect mesh.
- Cut moisture. Run dehumidifiers in basements, fix leaky pipes, and vent crawl spaces.
- Remove hiding spots. Clear cardboard boxes, paper piles, leaf litter, and firewood stored indoors.
- Set sticky traps. Glue boards along baseboards and in corners catch large numbers quickly and show where activity is heaviest.
- Vacuum regularly. A hose attachment reaches into cracks and removes eggs, nymphs, and adults.
- Apply diatomaceous earth. Food-grade powder in dry areas damages the exoskeleton and is safe around pets when used as directed.
- Use insecticides as a last resort. Residual sprays labeled for crawling insects, applied to baseboards and entry points, knock down heavy populations.
Place sticky traps along walls, behind appliances, and near water heaters, where crickets travel in the dark. Check them weekly and replace boards that are full. The catch pattern tells you which rooms need more work, so keep a simple note of where each trap was set and what it collected.
Outdoor cricket species need a different playbook. Mole crickets tunnel through turf, and a family handyman guide to mole cricket control explains why lawn treatments, not indoor traps, solve that problem; identify the species first so the effort goes to the right place.
Sealing Entry Points and Keeping Crickets Out
Exclusion is the highest-value step. Walk the foundation and look for gaps around pipes, wires, vents, and the sill plate. The most common entry points are door thresholds, garage doors with worn seals, window frames, dryer vents, and utility penetrations.
Match the material to the gap: exterior caulk for small cracks, expanding foam for larger openings, weatherstripping for doors and windows, insect mesh with openings no larger than a sixteenth of an inch for vents, and door sweeps on exterior doors. Pay special attention to the garage, where the gap under the door is often the main highway for crickets.
Outdoor lighting draws insects at night, and crickets follow the food supply to the walls. Point porch lights away from doors, switch to yellow bug bulbs, and turn lights off when they are not needed to keep the entry zone quiet.
Understanding how crickets get inside your house and how to keep them out starts with that perimeter walk. Most infestations trace back to one or two unsealed openings near a damp area, so fixing those two things removes most of the problem.
Moisture Control and Habitat Removal
Spider crickets need humidity to survive. A basement held at 50 percent relative humidity or lower is hostile to them. Dehumidifiers, vent fans, and grading that moves water away from the foundation all reduce cricket pressure.
Outdoors, keep mulch at least 6 inches away from the foundation, trim back vegetation, store firewood off the ground and away from the house, and move compost bins clear of the walls. Indoors, replace cardboard storage boxes with plastic bins and keep closets ventilated. Crawl spaces benefit from a vapor barrier and passive vents that stay open year-round.
Check plumbing under sinks, around water heaters, and at washing machine connections. A slow drip that stains a cabinet or rusts a fitting keeps a microclimate damp enough for crickets, and fixing it removes the moisture source that traps alone cannot touch.
Builders who design for pests handle the same details. Spider control and prevention for residential construction, from identification to building maintenance and treatment strategies, mirrors cricket-proofing because both pests enter through the same cracks and settle in the same damp spaces.
Long-Term Prevention Strategies
A one-time cleanup is not enough. Schedule two perimeter inspections a year, in spring and fall, and check weatherstripping, reapply caulk that has cracked, and re-level grade where water pools. Treat the outside of the foundation as part of the maintenance routine.
- Spring: inspect the foundation after snowmelt, reseal cracks, clean gutters.
- Summer: trim vegetation away from walls, move firewood off the ground.
- Fall: check door sweeps and weatherstripping before cold weather.
- Winter: keep basements and garages dry, clear stored cardboard.
Keep a few sticky traps in place year-round as monitors. A trap that stays empty for months tells you the defenses are working, while a sudden catch signals a new entry route or a leak that needs attention before the population builds.
Neighboring overgrown lots and vacant buildings can push crickets into your yard, so the perimeter work extends to the property line. A gravel strip or crushed stone border along the foundation gives you a visible buffer that stays dry and easy to inspect.
What homeowners should know about spider pest control applies to crickets too. Most indoor pest problems are solved with exclusion and moisture control rather than sprays, and the budget that would pay for repeated treatments can instead buy dehumidifiers, caulk, and door sweeps that prevent the problem.
A Year-Round Approach to a Cricket-Free Home
Success shows up in the traps: an empty glue board is the goal. Once a month of monitoring turns up nothing, most of the work is done, and the remaining routine is the seasonal inspection.
The lasting solution is routine building maintenance: keep water away from the foundation, seal everything that moves, and store belongings off the floor. When the house stays dry and tight, spider crickets have nowhere to breed and nothing to eat.
Severe infestations in wall cavities or crawl spaces may call for a licensed pest control operator, who can apply targeted treatments that homeowners should not attempt. The professional pass works best after the exclusion and moisture work is done, so the treatment is not repeated the following season.
These habits compound over time. Smart building maintenance, like the practices covered in how to keep crickets out of your house with smart building maintenance, becomes part of the seasonal routine, and each pass makes the next one easier.