What Is a Spider Cricket? Plus 6 Ways to Get Rid of This Basement Pest

If you’ve never seen a spider cricket before, consider yourself lucky. As its name suggests, this long-legged insect resembles a cricket with a bit of spider thrown in. They like to hang out in cool, dark, damp places like basements and crawl spaces, where they can be incredibly creepy to encounter because they’re large bugs that seem to be all legs and antennae. They’re often mistaken for huge spiders and have the unpleasant habit of jumping directly toward you when you startle them.

Here are facts about spider crickets, plus information on why they might be hanging around, how to get rid of them, and how to discourage them from returning.

Facts About Spider Crickets

So what is a spider cricket anyway? And do they cause any harm to you or your home? Here's what to know.

1. A spider cricket isn’t a spider or a cricket.

Good news for anyone with arachnophobia—despite their name, these pests aren’t spiders. Instead, they're part of the insect order Orthoptera; they’re related to grasshoppers, locusts, and other crickets, like the black crickets you may have seen around your house and garden. The “spider” part of their name comes from their long legs, but they only have six, not eight.

Although they’re not spiders, they’re not crickets, either. Spider crickets are closely related to true crickets but belong to a different family called Rhaphidophoridae, while true crickets belong to Gryllidae. They’re strong jumpers, thanks to those long legs, but they don’t have wings, and most species of spider cricket also lack inner ears, both of which true crickets have.

2. These insects have several names.

Spider cricket is the most commonly used name for these bugs, but it’s not the only one they go by. They’re also known as camel crickets because of their humped backs, and sometimes they are called cave crickets, thanks to their preference for living in dark, damp places.

3. Spider crickets don’t chirp.

Another characteristic that separates spider crickets from true crickets is their chirping ability (or lack thereof). They can’t chirp at all, which, depending on your point of view, could be good or bad. They won’t keep you up at night by making noise like regular crickets often do, but you won’t know they’re inside your house unless you see them.

4. Spider crickets don’t bite (technically).

Do spider crickets bite? The short answer is no. The long answer is a little more complicated. Their mouthparts are built for chewing, not biting, and they will gnaw on just about anything, including fabrics, wood, cardboard, plants, and even each other. If one were to land on your bare skin, it might try to give you a test nibble. While that wouldn’t break the skin, it could still feel unpleasant like a pinch.

5. Spider crickets are not picky eaters.

Spider crickets can make a meal out of lots of different household items. Once inside, they have a convenient buffet to feed on, including wood, cardboard, carpet, fabric, and pretty much anything else they can get their mouths on, including other spider crickets.

6. They’re more common east of the Mississippi River.

You can find spider crickets in states west of the Mississippi River, but you’re more likely to encounter them in the east. Some species are native to the United States, but others are native to parts of Asia.

According to a 2014 study conducted by researchers from North Carolina State University, the greenhouse camel cricket from Asia was the most common species in the United States, with 90% of respondents reporting sightings of it over other species of these insects. The researchers found that they were more common in and around homes east of the Mississippi and estimated that 700 million spider crickets of all species could be in the eastern United States.

How to Get Rid of Spider Crickets

These pests enjoy the cold and damp, so unlike other insect invaders, they usually make their way inside when the weather is hot and dry. You’re most likely to see them indoors in the summer and fall.

The best way to deal with spider crickets is to keep them out of your home in the first place. Basements and crawl spaces are popular hangouts, so seal and weather-strip openings at the lowest levels (like basement windows and ground-level doors). If you suspect you already have a problem, the following actions can help.

1. Turn on a dehumidifier.

If spider crickets are getting in, a dehumidifier can make the air less damp, dissuading them from sticking around.

2. Remove clutter.

Getting rid of clutter and cardboard boxes eliminates the pests’ hiding spots and food sources.

3. Use sticky traps.

Another line of defense is to put out sticky traps designed for mice and other household pests, but a few loops of duct tape also work similarly. Place these where walls and floors intersect in basements and other places where you encountered these creatures. They’ll often accidentally stumble into them, but you can increase your odds of catching them by adding a few pieces of bait to the center of the tape.

Spider crickets love fungi, so a moldy piece of bread could work. When they go after the bait, they get stuck and die. Once you’ve caught a few, the dead ones stuck to the trap become bait for these little cannibals.

4. Put out bowls of soapy water.

Shallow bowls of soapy water left where you’ve seen the crickets can be effective traps, especially if you already tried to reduce the moisture in your home. The crickets are attracted to the water and drown in the bowl while trying to drink it.

5. Run (and empty) your vacuum.

If you don’t want to get close enough to squash these pests, and you’d rather not have to clean up traps loaded with cricket corpses, use a strong vacuum to get rid of them and empty the vacuum immediately afterward in case they survived the trip and try to make a reappearance.

6. Call professionals.

Spider crickets may look terrifying, but they’re not very different from their true cricket cousins. You can keep most of them out with a few preventive measures and catch any that slip through your defenses with simple traps. However, if the spider crickets in your home escalate to the level of an infestation, calling in professional help is your best bet.