Camel (Humpback) Cricket control


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Old 04-28-11, 10:54 AM
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Camel (Humpback) Cricket control

I have a large population of Camel Crickets in my basement. I am doing what I can to make basement less appealing (drying it out, cleaning up leaf litter, etc.), but in the meantime I would like to put a hurting on the current inhabitants.

I see on the internet that boric acid granules are good bait option to broadcast all over the basement. However, I don't see anyone that carries boric acid in granule form.

The local Southern States recommended Bifenthrin. It comes in a spray. Said it was safe for living spaces as well.

Has anyone had experience in any of these areas (camel crickets, granular boric acid, and/or Bifenthrin)?
 
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Old 04-28-11, 01:08 PM
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I think they may have been referring to Borax. We use it in carpeting to either repel or kill fleas in carpeting in our rental cabin. Not sure which it does, but we don't have a problem. I have heard it does the same on small critters like camel crickets, too. We just use the normal 20 Mule Team Borax off the shelf and it does the trick.
 
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Old 04-28-11, 01:27 PM
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If you just want plain old boric acid it is available from many online retailers and from some welding/industrial supply companies. Just do a search for "boric acid granules".

If you are going away for a weekend you can try the aerosol bug bombs. It has worked well in the crawl spaces and basements I've done. You may need to repeat the treatment later as any eggs hatch bringing on another generation. If you hit them again before they can breed you have a good chance of breaking the cycle.
 
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Old 04-28-11, 01:38 PM
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I've also had pretty good luck with glue traps along the walls in addition to the poison
 
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Old 04-28-11, 04:00 PM
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Bi-fenthrin is very safe, we use lots of it indoors and out. Not good for roaches or fleas though, but crickets are easy to kill.

Two granular baits that work well for crickets are:
Baygon
Niban granules (boric acid bait)

Usually one treatment of bi-fenthrin or any residual insecticide will suffice for crickets unless unusual conditions exist.
 
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Old 04-28-11, 04:36 PM
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Thanks for the replies. Yeah, Niban Granules is what I had heard about and was looking around locally for. I will try the Bifenthrin first. If that doesn't work, I'll try the granules. What do you mean by unusual conditions? I don't know that I have unusual conditions other than a damp basement and a pretty healthy colony.
 
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Old 04-29-11, 02:00 PM
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Unusual, or contributing conditions would be, for example: chronic dampness/moisture around exterior of house; much leaf litter; organic debris; large expanses of deck/porch that have dark void spaces underneath; these conditions would be conducive to re-infestation.

Typically one treatment, int and ext, solves cricket problems. Those guys are easy. Bifenthrin will work well on all crawling insects; bait formulations will only work on what eats it; spiders, centipedes, roaches, beetles, earwigs typically don't eat bait.
 
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Old 05-11-11, 04:11 AM
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Camel Crickets

I currently have an infestation of camel crickets in my basement, more specifically, my storeroom. I have tried the big box store sprays the major manufacturers produce to no avail. I sprinkled boric acid powder in a crawl space and that has not taken care of the problem. I have an area where the plumbing drain for the tub in the basement adjoins the storeroom....the drain has to go down through a hole in the concrete about 18" square where earth is exposed. I have fashioned a fine screen over that and caulked it with silicon to the cement, but the crickets must be beyond that. My next step is going to be to get some Demon MAX and spray around the whole outside of the house and attached garage. Then I am going to give a good dosing of Demon WP on the perimeter of the inside of the house. My home is brand new, having only been living in it for two months and I have a finished basement. I am about at wits end with these things, but I feel an exterminator would do about the same thing I am. I put down a strip of duct tape each night on a wall next to the tub drain in the storeroom and sure enough, each morning there are about 10-12 crickets stuck on the tape Some advice would certainly be welcomed! And I do have a dehumidifier running on high 24/7 in the storeroom.
 
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Old 05-11-11, 05:32 AM
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Closing off their access to your house is the first step and can help prevent new crickets from getting in. Since you've had crickets inside they've probably laid eggs so it will take a determined effort until you break the cycle. Outside treatments may help keep new crickets from getting in but I bet you have a self sustaining population inside already.

Sticky pad insect traps will catch some of them. Is food kept in your storeroom? If not then I would use the aerosol type bug bombs. Open up everything you can so the vapor can get into as many nooks and crannies as possible. Then, repeat the process every month until they are eradicated. The crickets egg stage is 2-4 weeks long and then they are nymphs for about 3 months before becoming adults. The first application will kill the adults and subsequent treatments catch the ones newly hatched or were missed by prior foggings.

Also, the crickets need moist dark conditions so drying out the area and keeping it dry and the humidity low is key to getting rid of them for good but this can be difficult to achieve in a basement. The dehumidifier is a good start. Just be vigilant and realize that it may be a long battle to get them all.
 
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Old 05-11-11, 05:54 AM
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You say you have tried the sprays...can you give more details? What chemical did you use? How and where did you spray it. I am just a couple of weeks into my battle but so far I have seen good results. I used Bifenthrin, 1/2 oz with a gallon of water. I used a regular pump sprayer with the nozzle set to a thick spray. I went all around the interior walls of the basement putting down a thick amount, then had plenty left over so I sprayed the entire floor. The next day there were several dead crickets laying around the basement. The next day, there were even more. After about a week, the floor was littered with them. Instead of seeing 10 or so every single time I went down in the basement, I now see one every few days, and they ususally aren't moving too fast.

I plan to apply another round of poison in a few weeks to catch the next generation, and then another month after that, and so on. I have spoken with a contractor about how best to seal up the cracks and holes they are finding to get inside, but for now, I have had early success with the Bifenthrin.
 
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Old 05-11-11, 05:10 PM
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The concrete floor may be soaking up the bi-fenthrin to quickly as it is an emulsion. Demon WP (wettable powder) will not soak into bare concrete. If Demon doesn't work, something else is very wrong, such as continual re-infestation. Treat basement, garage, and permitter with demon.
 
 

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