After a practically silent winter, it is always fun to hear the sounds of buzzing bees, singing birds, and croaking frogs in the summer. As we enter into the fall season, another sound is that of crickets. These insects bring the evening to life as they sing their various songs; however, they can quickly become annoying.
If crickets around your Queen Creek home keep you awake at night or annoy you, it is time to call the Queen Creek pest control team at Canopy Pest Control. We will solve the cricket issue at your home.
Can Crickets Fly?
Crickets generally have a set of front wings and a pair of back wings; however, some, like bush crickets, only have one set of wings. Other crickets, like mole crickets, have four wings but are still not able to fly due to wing size.
The front wings on crickets with two pairs of wings are thicker, while the back wings are membranous. At rest, the hind wings lay across the back and down to the side.
What Types of Crickets Can Fly?
The following types of crickets are common in the Queens Creek area:
- House cricket (Acheta domesticus).
- Tropical house cricket (Gryllodes supplicans).
- Field cricket (Gryllus spp).
- Jerusalem cricket (Stenopelmatus fuscus).
The crickets in Queen Creek that can fly are the house and some field crickets. Field crickets are either short-winged or long-winged. The short-winged field crickets cannot fly, but the long-winged field crickets are capable of flight. Jerusalem crickets do not possess wings or wing pads and cannot fly. Female tropical house crickets are wingless, and while the males have wings, they are incapable of flight.
Although some crickets in Queen Creek can fly, they do not fly gracefully like birds. Instead, the flight of many crickets is short and jerky.
Chirping Sounds: What Is The Purpose?
Cricket sounds at night are created by the males through stridulation or rubbing their wings together. There are 50 to 250 teeth on one of the front wings; on the opposite is a scaper-like vein. The cricket rubs the scraper across the teeth producing a sound. The sound frequency, ranging from 1,500 cycles per second to almost 10,000 cycles per second, depends on the number of teeth rubbed. Crickets hear the chirps through audio receptors on their front legs.
There are three reasons for crickets chirping:
- To attract a mate
- To seduce the female
- To ward off predators
Temperature affects the chirping frequency; the warmer the weather, the more crickets chirp. "Cricket chirp temperature" is determined by counting the chirps in 15 seconds and adding 40. Using this method will give you a good idea of the actual temperature in degrees Fahrenheit!
Crickets At Night: How To Silence The Queen Creek Crickets
If crickets are causing you to lose sleep, here are a few things are you can do to minimize or eliminate the cricket insect sound:
- Clean up bricks, lumber, and piles of leaves around the house. Relocate firewood away from the home.
- Mow the yard regularly.
- Elevate garbage cans.
- Close window shades at night.
- Turn off exterior lights.
- Dehumidify the basement or crawlspace.
On a warm night, male crickets may chirp about 30 times per minute as they attempt to attract a mate. Taking steps to control the cricket population around your Queen Creek home will help you get a better night's sleep.
Professional Cricket Control For Queen Creek Properties
To get rid of crickets, you need our pest control experts at Canopy Pest Control. Our professionals use environmentally safe treatments to eliminate crickets from your property. Contact us today, and let us stop the crickets from keeping you awake at night.