Why Are Crickets Everywhere in Wichita Late Summer?

Short answer: Field crickets in Kansas spend the summer growing up outdoors. If you are dealing with Wichita crickets in late summer, sealing those openings is the fix that lasts.They squeeze in through door gaps, garage doors, weep holes, and foundation cracks. Sealing those openings is the fix that lasts.

If you have been sweeping crickets off the garage floor this week, you are not alone. We hear it every year from Wichita, Derby, and Andover homeowners right about now.

Here is what is going on, and what actually helps.

Why do Wichita crickets show up in late summer?

It is timing, not bad luck.

Kansas field crickets overwinter as eggs in the soil. They hatch and grow all summer, mostly out of sight in fields, ditches, and landscape beds. By early fall they hit adult size, and that is when they start moving.

K-State Research and Extension explains that crickets can sense heat gradients. Your home soaks up sun all day and gives that heat back off at night. K-State's Extension Entomology team notes crickets are pulled toward that warmth, and the south and west sides of a building get hit hardest.

Wichita gives them plenty of help too. Harvest activity around the edge of town, dry stretches followed by rain, and outdoor lighting all push crickets closer to structures.

Are these house crickets or field crickets?

Almost always field crickets.

Real house crickets are the ones sold at pet stores as reptile food. They do not survive Kansas winters well on their own. The black or dark brown cricket hopping across your garage is a field cricket, right around an inch long.

You may also see camel crickets. Those are the humpbacked, long legged ones with no wings that live in crawl spaces and basements. They look alarming. They are not.

Do crickets actually damage anything?

Some, yes.

Crickets are opportunistic feeders. Indoors they will chew on paper, cardboard, fabric, and stored food. Wool, cotton, and silk are the usual targets. Damage is normally minor and cosmetic.

The bigger issues for most families are the noise and the mess. One cricket behind a wall can keep a whole household up. And dead crickets pile up fast in garages and window wells.

K-State's guide on camel crickets notes they are a nuisance rather than a destructive pest, though heavy outdoor populations can leave lawns lumpy from burrowing. You can read the full breakdown in K-State's cricket publication (MF749).

Why do spiders show up right after crickets?

This is the part most people miss.

Spiders follow food. When crickets, roly polies, and other fall invaders move toward your foundation, spiders move with them. A cricket problem in September often turns into a spider problem in October.

In Kansas that matters more than it does in a lot of states. K-State entomologists have called the brown recluse the most common indoor spider in Kansas. It hides in garages, basements, attics, storage boxes, and closets, and it hunts other insects instead of building a display web. Details are in K-State's brown recluse publication (MF3133).

So the cricket cleanup you do this month is also spider prevention. Cut the food supply, cut the spiders.

How are crickets getting into my house?

Crickets are not chewing their way in. They are walking through gaps that are already there.

The usual entry points on Wichita area homes:

• Worn or missing weather stripping under exterior doors

• Garage door bottom seals that are cracked or curled

• Gaps at the corners of garage doors, where the seal never quite meets

• Weep holes in brick veneer

• Cracks in the foundation and where siding meets slab

• Gaps around utility lines, hose bibs, and dryer vents

• Crawl space vents with torn screens

• Window wells that collect leaves and hold moisture

If you can slide a pencil under your garage door at the corner, a cricket can walk in standing up.

What can I do this weekend to keep crickets out?

Five steps. Most of them cost very little.

1. Fix door seals first. Replace the garage door bottom seal and add a door sweep to any exterior door with daylight showing underneath. This one step stops more crickets than anything else.

2. Pull mulch and rock back from the foundation. Aim for a dry strip along the wall. Crickets and spiders both love damp cover.

3. Trim grass and weeds along the foundation. Tall growth right against the house is a highway.

4. Change your outdoor lighting. Bright white bulbs pull in insects all night. Warm LED or amber bulbs pull in far fewer. Move lights away from doors when you can.

5. Clear the clutter zones. Cardboard boxes on a garage floor are cricket and recluse habitat. Move to sealed plastic tubs and get them off the concrete.

Does spraying alone get rid of crickets?

Not by itself, and any company that tells you different is overselling.

A properly timed exterior perimeter treatment does real work. It creates a treated band that crickets have to cross to reach the house, and it knocks down the population already staged along the foundation. Even K-State points out that outside barrier treatments help but will not guarantee every invader is stopped.

The combination is what works. Seal the openings, then treat the perimeter. Exclusion without treatment is slow. Treatment without exclusion is temporary.

Timing matters too. Late August through September is the window in south central Kansas. Getting ahead of the move is a lot easier than chasing crickets out of a finished basement in November.

When should I call a pro?

Call when you see one of these:

• Crickets showing up in living areas, not just the garage

• Dozens along the foundation on a warm evening

• Chirping inside walls at night

• Any brown recluse or black widow sighting

• A crawl space or basement that stays damp

That last one is worth a closer look. Moisture is the common thread behind crickets, spiders, and roaches all at once.

The bottom line for Wichita homeowners

Crickets in August are normal. Crickets in your kitchen in November are a sealing problem that never got handled.

Take one hour this weekend. Check every door seal, pull the mulch back, and swap the porch bulb. Then get a perimeter treatment on the calendar before the first real cool down.

Handle it now and you skip the spider season that usually follows.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why are there so many crickets in Wichita this year?

Field crickets reach adult size in late summer and move toward warm buildings as nights cool off. Wet stretches earlier in the season can boost their numbers, and homes on the edge of open ground or crop fields tend to see the most.

Are crickets in the house dangerous?

No. Crickets do not bite people or carry disease. They can chew on paper, cardboard, and fabric, and they are loud, but they are a nuisance pest rather than a health risk.

What smell keeps crickets away?

Home remedies like peppermint or vinegar may move a cricket off a surface for a few minutes, but they do not stop crickets from entering. Sealing gaps and treating the exterior perimeter is what actually works.

Do crickets mean my house has other pests?

Often, yes. The same gaps that let crickets in let in spiders, roly polies, and later boxelder bugs. Spiders in particular follow crickets indoors because crickets are food.

How long does cricket season last in Kansas?

Cricket pressure usually runs from late August through the first hard freeze. Crickets that make it inside can survive in heated spaces well into winter.

When is the best time to treat for crickets in Wichita?

Late August through September, before nighttime temperatures drop and the big move toward structures begins.

Bug Shockers Pest Control is a family owned company serving Wichita, Derby, Andover, Rose Hill, Augusta, and El Dorado. No contracts. 5 star rated. The Shockingly Smart Choice.

Schedule your fall service or give us a call and we will walk your foundation with you.