Crickets — especially the humpbacked camel cricket (often called a 'spider cricket' or 'cave cricket') — are a common but under-treated NYC pest. They thrive in the damp basements, cellars, crawl spaces and ground-floor units that older New York buildings have in abundance, and their chirping and jumping make them especially unwelcome indoors.
Camel crickets don't chirp but they jump erratically when disturbed and feed on fabric, cardboard and stored items in basements. House crickets are drawn to warmth and light. Both signal a moisture and entry-point problem, which is why treatment that ignores the underlying conditions never holds.
We treat the harbourage areas, reduce the moisture and clutter that draw crickets in, and seal the gaps they use to enter from outside and from shared basement spaces.
Signs you have a cricket control problem
- Chirping at night (house crickets) coming from basements or walls
- Humpbacked, long-legged crickets jumping in basements, cellars or bathrooms
- Holes or damage in stored fabric, cardboard or paper in basement storage
- Crickets concentrated in damp, dark ground-floor and below-grade areas
Why Upper West Side sees this
Camel crickets love the damp, below-grade basements and cellars common in NYC brownstones and pre-war buildings — ground-floor and garden apartments see them most.