Jumpy bugs. Hippity Hops. Cave crickets.
That's just some of the names local residents have given to these critters that have invaded their homes, particularly their basements. Their actual name is Rhaphidophoridae, but they are commonly called camel crickets because of their "humpbacked appearance," according to North Carolina University's Department of Entomology Web site.
Unlike field crickets, these strange-looking creatures have no wings and they do not chirp, but they can jump very high, which they usually do when they are startled. For instance, when they detect, using their antennae, that someone is approaching or if a shoe is thrown at them.
"They are disgusting," Patch reader Laurie Schaefer Mangione wrote on East Meadow Patch's Facebook page on Tuesday when residents were asked if they have them in their homes.
Many readers wrote back expressing their disgust of the crickets and ways that they have tried to get rid of them.
Joanna Castellano Festa said that the creatures would pop up in her bathroom a few years ago.
"They would freak me out," she wrote. "I usually hairsprayed them to death. Oh God...I have the heebie jeebies just thinking about it."
A couple of readers said that there were three things that worked: sticky glue traps, dehumidifiers and at times, cats.
"The dehumidifier worked for us," Raychel Westwood-Thurau said. "I use to get countless crickets in the basement.. I'm not saying it worked over night, but within a couple of weeks they were gone."
Reader Becky Gillman Goldberg said that glue traps are what worked for her.
"Go to Ace Hardware for the good ones," she said. "We also have this eco-friendly bug spray that kills on contact, for the few that miss the glue traps."
Diane Petchesky Buffolino that her four-legged creature got the job done.
"Our cats think they are a toy," she said.
When asked what are the best ways to get rid of the creatures, James Skinner, owner of A&C Pest Management in East Meadow, said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Call an exterminator," he laughed.
Skinner said that crickets, like all insects, like moisture.
"Most people will keep bushes close to their homes and bushes contain moisture," he said. "If they trimmed their bushes away from their structures it would stop crickets from getting in their homes. And keep basements dry at all times and make sure dehumidifiers are drained.
He also said that it would be beneficial to invest in glue traps and door sweeps.
"A lot of times people have cracks in their doors and a door sweep will stop crickets, mice and spiders from getting in," he said. "If they get glue traps they need to let it fill up with crickets. Don't replace them too soon."
Do you have these critters in your home? Tell us about it and what's worked (or not worked) for you? To see what else readers had to say about camel crickets click here .
