In order to find a cricket in your home, turn off the lights and go from room to room. Wait quietly in each room for 2–3 minutes. If the cricket is in this room, it will chirp during this time. If you do not hear the chirping nearby, check another room. Continue until you’ve pinpointed which room the cricket is in.
Once you find the cricket, you can trap it in a number of ways. A soda can with a few drops of the beverage inside will lure a cricket inside, then it will be unable to find its way out. Alternatively, you can pour some syrup into a bowl and place it in the room with the cricket. The insect will be drawn by the sweet scent, fall in the syrup, and get stuck. You can use sticky mouse traps baited with cornmeal for a similar effect.
How Long Will a Cricket Live in Your House?
Crickets can survive in your home for up to 90 days. So, if your sleep is being disturbed by a chirping cricket, the nightly noise could go on for 3 months. A cricket inside your home can find food in your cupboards. Alternatively, a cricket may live in your home by eating your clothing, cardboard boxes, and other items.
Do Crickets Make Noise All Night?
A cricket in your home may continue to chirp all night. Crickets are nocturnal creatures that are most active at night. In fact, nighttime is the best time for them to chirp, since it’s harder for predators to follow the sound and find the cricket in the dark. If you have a cricket in your home, it can chirp on and off from sundown to sunup.
How to Find a Cricket in Your House
The best way to find a cricket in your home is by turning off as many lights as you possibly can. Then, move from room to room. Stop in each room and stand very still for a few minutes. If the environment is still and dark, the cricket will feel at ease and begin to chirp. At this point, you can turn the lights on suddenly. If you’re lucky, you may spot the cricket in the open.
- Turn off the lights inside your home.
- Go room-by-room in the dark. Wait silently for a chirping sound.
- If you do not hear a chirp—or the chirp is distant—move to another room.
- Once you hear the chirp nearby, you’ll know the cricket is in the same room as you.
Beware, crickets love to hide under appliances, in closets, and even in air vents. So, you may be able to narrow the cricket’s location down to a single room, but you may not be able to spot it. Getting a cricket out of your home is the next step.
How Do You Trap a Cricket? 5 Quick Methods
A cricket infestation is a real nuisance. The nighttime chirping can interrupt your sleep and cause real stress. In order to trap crickets in your home, just use one of these quick fixes.
Make an Aluminum Can Trap
A simple aluminum can makes a great cricket trap. You can make this trap in 30 seconds or less by following these steps:
- Empty a can of soda until only a few drops of liquid remain inside.
- Lay the can on its side in the room where you believe the cricket is hiding.
- The cricket will be drawn to the smell of the liquid and crawl inside the can to feed on the soda.
- Once inside, the cricket will have a hard time finding the opening to escape.
This simple trap is a great way to capture crickets alive. Simply pick up the can and carry it outside to release the cricket or dispose of the can.
Try the Soda Bottle Trap
If you have a clever cricket that finds its way out of an aluminum can trap, it’s time to upgrade your arsenal. For this, you will need an empty plastic soda bottle. Then, follow these steps:
- Remove the cap from the soda bottle.
- Use a pair of scissors to cut the top third off a plastic bottle of soda.
- Turn the top of the soda bottle upside-down and place it inside the bottom, so that there is a funnel shape leading into the soda bottle.
- Tape the top and bottom of the bottle together to prevent the funnel from getting dislodged.
- Pour 1–2 tablespoons (15–30 grams) of sugar into the bottom of the soda bottle.
- Lay the trap on its side in the room where the cricket is hiding.
This style of trap is even more certain to keep crickets inside than the aluminum can method. It is extremely hard for a cricket to find the small opening they entered. Once the cricket is trapped, you can release it outside.
Create a Syrup Trap
Crickets are drawn to yeasty or sugary substances. They’re so attracted to these substances that they’ll walk right into a sticky situation. In order to use sweets to trap crickets, make this easy trap with items in your home.
- Choose a shallow dish or bowl, such as a pie pan.
- Pour syrup or molasses into the bowl until the bottom is coated to a depth of ¼-inch (6 mm)
- Place the container on the ground in the room where the cricket is hiding.
Crickets will be so attracted to the syrup that they’ll jump into the dish containing the syrup. Once they land in the syrup, crickets won’t be able to escape. They’ll be caught and drown.
Use Sticky Traps
Sticky traps meant for flies, cockroaches, or mice can easily be transformed into cricket traps. In order to do this:
- Place this sticky trap on the ground.
- Sprinkle a small mound of cornmeal, sugar, or flour in the center of the trap.
- Place the trap in the room where you hear crickets chirping.
Your house cricket will investigate the food source in the room, causing it to wander onto the sticky trap. Once there, the cricket will become stuck and die.
Cup Method
If you are lucky enough to catch a cricket out in the open, you can catch it using a glass and a sheet of paper. For this method to work effectively, try this:
- Get a large, clear drinking glass.
- Enter the room where you believe the cricket is hiding.
- Turn off the lights and wait for the cricket to start chirping.
- Once the cricket starts chirping, turn on the lights.
- Search the floor for the cricket.
- When you spot the cricket, slowly lower the glass over the cricket, trapping it.
- Slide a sheet of paper under the glass.
- Transport the cricket outside to release it.
It’s essential to move slowly when trapping a cricket with a glass. Crouch and slowly lower the glass. A sudden movement will cause the cricket to leap away and hide. By moving slowly, the cricket won’t be disturbed. This makes trapping it much easier.
What Kills Crickets Instantly?
You can kill crickets instantly by spraying them with bug sprays found in stores. However, if you don’t want to spray pesticides inside your home, you can make a homemade cricket spray. Try this recipe:
- Mix equal parts water and white vinegar in a spray bottle.
- Shake the bottle to mix the water and vinegar.
- Spray any crickets inside your home with the mixture—it will kill them in seconds.
The acetic acid in vinegar is deadly to crickets. It will kill them on contact. If you have a problem with crickets invading your pantry, you can spread a layer of diatomaceous earth on your shelves. Crickets that walk over diatomaceous earth will become dehydrated and die. This food-grade diatomaceous earth is totally organic and human safe, so you can sprinkle it on pantry shelves without risk to you and your family.
Where Will a Cricket Hide in Your House?
Crickets are adept at hiding in many parts of your home. They can hide under appliances, in closets, in air vents, or even in food containers. In order to find and get rid of crickets, use these tips:
- Locate crickets by turning off the lights in your home and going from room to room to find where the chirping is loudest.
- Once you have located the chirping, trap your house cricket.
- Place a mostly empty soda can on its side in the room—crickets will be lured inside.
- Make a cricket trap by placing sugar inside a modified plastic soda bottle.
- Pour syrup into a dish to lure crickets into a sticky trap.
- Bait sticky mouse traps with cornmeal or sugar to bring crickets to the trap.
- When you spot a cricket in the open, slowly place a glass over it. Then, use a piece of paper to cover the bottom as you move the cricket outside.
This list contains both lethal and nonlethal options. So, you can harmlessly trap and release crickets, or kill invasive crickets. Any one of these solutions will help you get rid of the annoying chirping in your home.
