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House Cricket (Acheta domesticus)
Identify it, prevent it, and know when to call. A South Florida guide from Pro-Spray.
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What Is a House Cricket?
The house cricket is the tan cricket sold as pet food and fishing bait, so escapees are common. Outdoors crickets of several kinds gather near lights and in damp, cluttered spots and slip inside under doors. Males chirp at night by rubbing their wings together.
How to Identify Them
House crickets are tan with dark bands across the head. Field crickets are darker, nearly black. Camel crickets are humpbacked and don't chirp. Mole crickets dig in lawns; see our mole cricket identification page.
The South Florida Season
Crickets are around all year here, but they become most noticeable in late summer and fall, when outdoor numbers are high and heavy rains push them toward higher, drier ground, including garages and doorways.
Life Cycle
Females push their eggs into damp soil, mulch or cracks with a long, needle-like egg-laying tube at the rear. The young (nymphs) look like small adults without full wings and molt several times as they grow. Crickets are most active at night and hide in dark, sheltered spots by day.
Look-alikes and How to Tell Them Apart
- Field crickets: darker, nearly black, and mostly outdoors.
- Camel crickets: humpbacked and wingless with very long legs; they often jump toward you instead of away and don't chirp.
- Mole crickets: shovel-shaped front legs; they live in soil and lawns.
- Cockroaches: flat bodies; they run rather than jump.
Where They Hide in South Florida Homes
Garages and storage rooms, laundry rooms behind the washer and dryer, under clutter and cardboard boxes, inside closets near exterior doors, in mulch beds and along the foundation near porch and garage lights.
When to Call a Pro
Call if chirping or sightings go on for more than a few nights, if crickets are showing up in several rooms, or if you're also seeing spiders or scorpions, which hunt crickets and follow them in. Sealing gaps and treating entry points together usually solves it.
Signs of House Crickets
- Chirping at night from the garage, laundry room or behind furniture
- Crickets around porch and garage lights
- Small chewed spots on fabric, cardboard or paper
Is it dangerous?
- Property damage
Nighttime chirping; they can chew holes in fabrics and paper.
Prevention Tips
- Swap white porch lights for yellow bulbs or turn them off.
- Add door sweeps and seal garage door gaps.
- Reduce clutter in garages and storage rooms.
- Keep mulch and debris pulled back from the foundation.
How Pro-Spray Treats House Crickets
We treat the exterior perimeter, garage, entries and hiding spots, and use baits or targeted products indoors where crickets are getting in. We'll also point out lighting and sealing fixes. Our Bug Free Guarantee: If pests come back between visits, so do we, at no extra cost.
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Then stay protected with our $125 quarterly pest control plan, about $42/month.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find a chirping cricket?
Do house crickets bite?
Do crickets attract other pests?
Reviewed October 2026 by Pro-Spray's family-run team
Pests don't wait.
Protect your home today.
Get $50 OFF your first pest service and a FREE inspection & estimate. Ongoing protection is $125 quarterly (about $42/month), with no contracts and no cancellation fees.
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