Guess the pest

Can you guess the following pest?

They come in colors from brown to black. Are omnivores and feeds on organic materials, decaying plants, fungi and seeding plants. Can be found under rocks, logs, and along roadsides. And did I mentioned they like to sing you to sleep?

If you guess a Cricket you're correct!

The common house cricket is anywhere from 3/4 to 1 inch in length and is light brown. As most pests, they like the warmth and can be found by fireplaces, kitchen, basements, garbage dumps, sheds, and other shelters.

All crickets have excellent vision and hearing. They are able to see in several directions simultaneously. Although crickets have wings, a large majority of them do not fly.

Many people believe that all crickets chirp (cricket sound), in fact it is only the males that are able to do this. Each species of cricket sings in a different pitch, this enables them to find their own species. There are 4 different types of songs. The calling song attracts females and tells the other males not to come close, this is normally a very loud chirp. The courting chirp is used when a females is close by, this is a very quite chirp. The aggressive chirp is triggered by the crickets antennas, they are able to sense another male close by. The copulatory song is sung for a brief time after a successful mating has been completed.

There are 3 main types of crickets in Arizona.

The Indian House Cricket

The males attract females by "chirping" at night, which can be extremely annoying for

homeowners. These crickets also may produce piles of droppings. When there are extremely high numbers of Indian house crickets they may feed on fabrics and drywall. Outdoors, they may damage young garden plants and annual flowers.

The Field Cricket

Field crickets are known to chew on, and damage woolens, cottons, silks, synthetic fabrics,

Clothes with perspiration stains or

food spills are particularly attractive. Outdoors, they

may damage young garden plants and annual flowers.

Jerusalem Cricket

These crickets are sometime called "Children of th earth". Unlike other crickets, they are useful predators, catching and eating many other insects and spiders. Jerusalem crickets are mostly harmless, except they may bite if handled too carelessly. They normally do not enter homes.

If you have any Pest/Cricket issues please call Valor Pest Control, your pest control experts at 480.287.2959 or visit Valorpest.com