Crickets are mostly harmless, but a house cricket infestation is one of the more annoying indoor pest problems a homeowner can face. Between the constant chirping at night and the damage crickets can do to fabrics, paper, and houseplants, cricket control is worth taking seriously. This hub brings together our guides on field crickets, house crickets, and the related camel and mole crickets, so you can identify the species, understand why they come inside, and get rid of them.
Common Cricket Species
House crickets are the small, tan crickets most likely to be found indoors. They are about three-quarters of an inch long, active at night, and drawn to warmth, moisture, and food. Once inside, house crickets can breed and establish an ongoing population. They will chew on fabric, paper, and young plants, and the constant chirping is annoying in bedrooms. Field crickets are larger and darker and live outdoors in grass and weeds — our guide on how to get rid of crickets outside covers the outdoor case. Camel crickets are the large, humpbacked, long-legged crickets that live in basements and crawlspaces. And mole crickets are an entirely different problem — outdoor lawn pests with shovel-like front legs that tunnel through soil. Whether mole crickets are bad for your garden or lawn covers the damage they actually do.
Why Crickets Come Indoors
Crickets come inside mostly in fall, when temperatures drop and they are looking for warmth. Outdoor lights near doors and windows attract them. They also follow food and moisture — house crickets will breed indoors if they find both. Once inside, they move toward warm areas like kitchens, bathrooms, and furnace rooms, and they are drawn to the sound of other crickets, which is why an infestation tends to be concentrated in one area of a house.
House Cricket Control
House cricket control requires finding both the adults and the breeding site. Vacuum up visible crickets and dispose of the bag outside. Set sticky traps in corners near where you see crickets, which both catches them and tells you whether the problem is shrinking. Keep floors clean, take the trash out regularly, and fix any leaks that are providing moisture. If an infestation is ongoing, an insecticidal treatment around baseboards and in cracks can help, but sanitation and moisture correction are the long-term solution.
Camel Cricket Control
Camel crickets thrive in humid, dark spaces, so the most effective control is to make those spaces less appealing. Install a dehumidifier in the basement or crawlspace and reduce humidity below 50%. Seal cracks around the foundation. Remove debris, wood piles, and stored cardboard from basements and crawlspaces. Camel crickets are difficult to trap effectively; reducing humidity and clutter is the primary strategy.
Why Do Crickets Chirp at Night?
The chirping is a mating call, and it is designed to carry. Crickets are nocturnal by nature, and chirping at night reduces the risk of predation while maximising the distance the sound carries. Why crickets make noise at night explains the biology in more detail. If you are trying to track down a cricket that is chirping inside the house, our guide on why crickets stop chirping when you move explains the locate-and-remove technique — the good news is that the silence when you approach is the best clue to where the cricket is hiding. If you need to actually silence it and cannot find it, how do you silence a cricket covers the practical options. And if you are curious why they seem to jump at you rather than away, why crickets jump towards you explains that too.
Preventing Crickets
Prevention is mostly about exclusion and habitat. Seal cracks around doors and windows, install or repair door sweeps, and seal utility penetrations where pipes and wires enter the house. Use weather stripping around doors. Fix leaks and reduce humidity. Keep exterior debris away from the foundation. If you have a chronic fall cricket problem, a late-summer perimeter treatment by a pest control professional can dramatically reduce the number that get inside.
Do Home Remedies Work?
Some do, most do not. Vinegar sprays and diatomaceous earth have limited effectiveness against crickets but are cheap to try — does vinegar kill crickets covers the actual evidence. Cricket biology is worth understanding if you are going to try to control them: are crickets good or bad covers their ecological role, and if you have heard the term “decomposer” applied to them, are crickets decomposers explains why that matters for your garden.
When to Call a Professional
Call a professional if you cannot find the source of an indoor infestation, if you have an ongoing problem despite sanitation and exclusion, if camel crickets have established a large population in a basement or crawlspace, or if the problem is outdoors and affects a large area of the yard. A professional can identify the species, locate the breeding site, and apply targeted treatments that reduce the population without excessive pesticide use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do crickets bite?
No. Crickets have chewing mouthparts but cannot break human skin. They are harmless to people and pets.
Are crickets dangerous?
Not directly. They do not transmit disease or cause structural damage. The main issues are the noise and the damage they do to fabrics, paper, and indoor plants.
Why is there one cricket chirping all night?
A single male cricket can be surprisingly loud, and the chirp is designed to carry. If you only hear one, there may only be one — but it can still be worth finding and removing it to get some sleep.
Last reviewed: November 2026.