Buildings that are brightly lit at night are most likely to attract the largest numbers of crickets during the fall mating season.

Outdoor lighting is the most important single cause of severe cricket infestations around homes and commercial buildings. Dead crickets quickly pile up, causing odors and many people are repelled by the sight of large numbers of crickets on walls and sidewalks around offices and stores. Although crickets do not normally feed on fabrics, soiled clothing or clothes stained with perspiration may be damaged by crickets.ĭuring severe outbreaks crickets can create an aesthetically unacceptable situation around places of business. Indoors, crickets may damage clothing, drapes or wall coverings with staining from feces or vomitus, or by their feeding activities. Unlike house crickets (the species commonly sold in stores as pet food), field crickets do not breed indoors or establish permanent indoor infestations. Nevertheless, they can become a considerable household nuisance when abundant. Damageįield crickets are primarily outdoor insects, and as such are only accidental indoor invaders. Although crickets can be locally abundant in any year, numbers appear to be highest in August and September when a summer drought is broken by rainfall and cooler weather. The reason for cricket outbreaks under such conditions is not fully understood however, less fungal disease among eggs and cricket nymphs may provide a partial explanation. The largest cricket outbreaks seem to occur during years of dry springs and summers. Cricket outbreaks occur when large numbers of nymphs complete their development and embark on nighttime mating flights.įall cricket flights can be a cost for small businesses who lose customers and must pay for cleanup and disposal. Once the cricket reaches the adult stage it is capable of flight and mating.

Immature crickets require approximately three months to complete their development and become adults. Eggs remain in the soil throughout the winter and hatch the following spring.Ĭricket nymphs can be identified by the incomplete development of the wings. A single female cricket may lay from 150-400 eggs. Firm, bare soil sites are preferred for egg-laying. Biologyįield cricket eggs are laid in the fall, approximately two weeks after females mature and develop wings. Although the cricket species associated with outbreaks in Texas have not been well-studied, most belong to the Gryllus assimilis complex, and are collectively referred to as black field crickets, or field crickets. Late summer and fall are when adult crickets become especially abundant around homes and commercial buildings. Masses of black field crickets are a common sight in late summer and fall in many parts of Texas.Ĭricket outbreaks are one of the most predictable pest events of the year in most areas of Texas.

Cricket bug