Camel crickets belong to the Rhaphidophoridae family of insects and go by various names worldwide. These pests are nocturnal insects, and while they are not known to be dangerous to humans, they can cause structural damage to your home. Using camel cricket traps is one of the best ways to deal with these crickets to avoid an infestation.
Despite their name, camel crickets or cave crickets are not true crickets. Their bodies resemble field crickets, but camel crickets have large back legs that allow them to jump. The shape of their long legs is also why these pests are sometimes referred to as spider crickets, despite not being related to spiders.
Aside from this cricket species being nocturnal, they also prefer living in dark areas of the house like the crawl space or basements. They seek wood, cardboard, and even some fabrics to feed on for nutrients. These crickets feed on plants, fungus, and other insects in their natural environment.
How to Trap Camel Crickets
Outside of North America, it’s common to keep house crickets as pests, but camel crickets are not among the insects people want in their homes. Like mole crickets, capture and get rid of these pests before they cause damage to your home or garden.
Whether you purchase commercial bait or make a homemade trap for crickets and other pests, the key behind every pest trap is an attractant, usually a pheromone in a store-bought trap, but at home, it could be a water source or food for the pest that draws them in. The second part of the trap catches or holds the pest in place, making it impossible to escape until they die.
DIY Camel Cricket Trap with Water
Sometimes referred to as camelback crickets, these crickets rely on water to live, and if they find their way indoors, they seek moisture. Their reliance on water is helpful because it provides you with hints on where to find them if you’re looking for a camel cricket infestation.
Because they are underground, basements are often moist areas, and if water pools around your home’s foundation, it may begin to gather in your basement. Use their moisture needs against them by creating a DIY camel cricket trap using dish soap and water.
Create soapy water to pour into bowls and place them in areas where camel crickets are active or are likely to hide. The crickets jump into the bowl to find the water, and the soap quickly dissolves the coating of their exoskeleton that allows them to float.
This method will also work to kill spider crickets inside the house without much intervention from you and is one of the best home remedies for trapping all types of crickets.
Cricket Control with Diatomaceous Earth
Diestrammena asynamora, also known as the Asian camel cricket or the greenhouse camel cricket in North America, is a pest often found in greenhouses where it feeds on young seedlings. To get rid of D asynamora without introducing chemicals near your crops, use diatomaceous earth (DE).
DE is made from crystalized diatoms, and when insects come in contact with the sharp edges of the powder, it cuts into their bodies. These cuts cause insects to lose water in their body rapidly, eventually killing them.
Food-grade DE is safe for use around your home and pests and goes beyond just stopping crickets. Gardeners and homeowners use DE to combat many bugs, including bed bugs.
Sticky Camel Cricket Traps
Sticky traps are the most effective camel cricket trap when you wonder how to trap camel crickets. Because of their small bodies, insects like camel crickets are easily caught in the adhesive and cannot escape from traps that use glue to capture pests.
Tape Trap for Crickets
If you have duct tape on hand, you have almost everything you need to make a trap for camel crickets. Tear off tape long enough to roll over and create loops. Stick these loops on your basement floor or along the walls. This trap is one of the easiest methods for pest control because of the minimal supplies it requires.
Camel crickets become stuck on the tape as they walk across it, but if you want to increase the chance of these insects visiting your trap, place bait in the middle of the tape. Dry pet food or moldy bread is the best bait for a camel cricket trap.
Molasses Trap for Camel Crickets
Along with their regular diet of wood and fungus, camel crickets like the sweet smell of molasses, and a trap using molasses works well to capture these pests. Molasses serves double duty as an attractant and trap, making it impossible for camel crickets to escape once they touch it.
Pour molasses into bowls and place them around your basement, or spread a thick layer across cardboard squares. To ensure your trap succeeds, add another type of bait in the middle of the trap.
Glue Trap
The concept behind glue traps is straightforward as it involves pouring a sticky substance over a surface you can place and remove easily around your home. Don’t use actual glue in your trap despite the name, as it may not attract camel crickets.
Heat water and corn syrup in equal parts in a pot on the stove until it boils. In the meantime, cut your cardboard into manageable shapes like rectangles and squares that are the proper size to place them behind large objects or appliances.
Use a kitchen utensil to spread your sticky mixture over the cardboard. Once applied, leave your trap in the corners of your basement or behind boxes where you’ve seen activity. Check them daily and replace the traps as needed.
Ways to Keep Camel Crickets Out of Your House
New Zealand residents usually find camel crickets in caves, which is the reason for their nickname “cave weta.” In North America, the spider cricket population is heavy in North Carolina because they thrive in the temperate climate and often make their way inside homes for food.
Although traps effectively deal with these pests, the better solution is to stop keep these crickets from entering your home in the first place. Discover helpful ways to keep crickets out of your house and avoid a messy infestation.
Yard Maintenance
Like most bugs, camel crickets enjoy hiding in tall grass. If you’re neglecting your lawn care and allowing tall grass to grow near your home, especially near open windows or patio doors, you’re creating easy access for insects to find their way inside.
Debris around your home’s foundation is another hiding place for camel crickets. Camel crickets may gather in wood piles next to your house to feed.
Cracks in the foundation and holes in screens are easy to access points for crickets to enter your home. Try to leave space between wood or storage boxes and your house to minimize the chance of camel crickets jumping inside.
If you spot even one camel cricket, consider that your home is likely playing host to many more. As long as camel crickets find a suitable environment, they have no problem laying hundreds of eggs in their lifetime.
Keep your basement and crawl space free of excess moisture and set traps to avoid allowing an infestation to form under your nose.
If you learned how to trap camel crickets with help from our guide, please share our tips for making camel cricket traps with your friends on Facebook and Pinterest.