The Problem With House Crickets In Your Fort Worth Home

House crickets, which are known scientifically as Acheta domesticus, are primarily found in the Eastern United States. The western line of their distribution zone runs right down through the center of Texas, putting Fort Worth right on the line. Lucky us. That means we have to deal with these insects getting into our homes. And, if you haven't guessed by their name, they like living in houses. When these insects get inside, they can stay permanently. If they do, here are a few problems you may experience.

House Crickets Can Damage Your Stuff

These insects can put holes in your house plants, holes in your bedspreads, holes in your upholstered furniture, holes in your curtains, holes in your clothing, and tear up wallpaper on your walls. They can get into your trash, and then get into stored foods. There are many things a house cricket can eat. That's probably why they do so well inside houses.

House Crickets Can Stain Your Stuff

These insects don't just chew holes in your things, they can also stain them with their black feces. If crickets get into your closets, or into storage areas where you have clothes, these items can become soaked with feces. If crickets get into your basement, they can stain curtains, upholstered furniture, and other fabrics.

House Crickets Can Make You Sick

When crickets get into the trash and feed on rotting organic matter, they can become exposed to many harmful microorganisms. They carry this to food-prep surfaces, dishes, and stored foods. This can lead to stomach illness or salmonella, E. coli, and other organisms.

You can also get sick from cricket feces. The droppings from house crickets can cause a rash on your skin or cause sores to develop. If crickets leave their waste in your food, this can cause serious gastrointestinal tract illness.

House Crickets Make Noise

Male crickets rub their front wings together to create a sound that attracts females. While this sound might be nice to listen to as a chorus in your backyard, it can be very annoying when it's coming from within the walls of your home while you're trying to sleep. At first, this is just an annoyance. But over time it can lead to sleep deprivation, which can present many issues for your health and safety. Fortunately, most people don't allow things to get to this point.

House Cricket Prevention

If you don't have these crickets in your Fort Worth home yet, there are a few things you can do to prevent them from getting in. Consider these tips:

• Consider your exterior lighting. Crickets are attracted to light. If you turn lights off and reduce exterior light sources, such as the light that leaks out of your windows and glass doors, you can reduce the population of crickets around the outside of your home and reduce the chances of accidental entry.
• Take a look at your gutter system and make sure that you don't have anything obstructing the flow of water. Obstructions can cause water to flow over the side and saturate your perimeter, and this can be a strong attractant for house crickets.
• Address any conditions that create puddles of standing water near your home. This might be dense ground, poor gradation, plumbing leaks, or something similar.
• Rake or blow leaves away from your exterior. Leaf litter and leaf piles create a moist habitat and feeding ground for crickets.
• Keep your grass trimmed and remove unnecessary vegetation from your landscaping. Tallgrass and other vegetation traps moisture and provides a habitat for the insects crickets eat.
• Move woodpiles away from your exterior. Crickets love the critters that get into woodpiles.

House Cricket Control In Fort Worth

There is no better way to get control of house crickets and keep control of them than to let the licensed pest professionals at All-Safe Pest & Termite apply appropriate EPA-approved treatments. If you have a cricket problem in your Fort Worth home, or you would like to avoid having a problem with these troublesome insects, let our team help. Reach out to us today. We're here to assist you with all your pest control needs.