How to identify it
Work down these in order — the first one is usually enough on its own.
- Long, powerful back legs built for jumping
- Antennae longer than the body — far longer than a grasshopper's
- Flat wings laid over the back; males chirp by rubbing them together
- Three darker bands across the head
What it gets mistaken for
Most people arrive at a pest name by ruling things out. These are the ones that genuinely look similar, and the detail that separates them.
Where you will find it
- Garages, crawlspaces, basements and utility rooms
- Around exterior lighting at night, in large numbers in autumn
- Under doors and through weep holes and garage-door gaps
- Behind stored boxes and appliances indoors
Signs it is already there
You will nearly always see the evidence before you see the pest itself.
- Persistent chirping from one part of the house at night
- Irregular holes chewed in fabric, paper or stored clothing
- Dead crickets accumulating around exterior doors and lights
Low. Nuisance rather than hazard.
Why it is harder to deal with than it looks
In autumn they are drawn to the building by light, in large numbers, so anything done indoors is downstream of that. A single chirping male in a wall void is also genuinely hard to locate, because the sound carries and seems to move as you approach.
What actually works
Switch exterior lighting to warm-toned bulbs, which draw far fewer insects, and move fixtures away from doors. Seal garage-door edges, door sweeps and weep holes. Cut back mulch and dense planting against the wall. Indoors, sticky traps along the base of the wall both catch them and show where they are getting in.
Common questions
How do I tell a house cricket from a german cockroach?
In poor light a dark cricket is regularly taken for a roach. A cricket has long jumping back legs and antennae longer than its body; a roach has neither.
Where are house cricket usually found in a home?s
Garages, crawlspaces, basements and utility rooms Around exterior lighting at night, in large numbers in autumn Under doors and through weep holes and garage-door gaps.
Is a house cricket dangerous?
No health risk and no structural damage. They chew fabric and paper, and the noise is usually the actual complaint.
Identification guidance only. Under Texas law, applying pest control treatments for hire requires a licence from the Texas Department of Agriculture. This page describes what a pest looks like — it is not a diagnosis of your property or a treatment recommendation for it.