The Washington Post ran an article today on these guys, some particularly “sketchy” insects known as camel crickets:
I had the bad luck to be rudely awakened by one of these guys in my bed on my first night sleeping in my previous apartment. The article captures their weirdness well. They don’t just look ugly; their tendency to jump far and erratically adds a whole new level of creepiness to these buggers, especially when they’re invading your bedroom.
Fortunately I only saw one other indoors for the rest of the year I spent in that apartment, but they were numerous outside it. One of them caught me by surprise making its home beneath my bike seat. As if I needed another reason to be glad to have moved, the Post story on how the drought is sending these crickets into houses in search of moisture has neatly provided it.
Even so, I think camel crickets pale in comparison to the weird centipedes I’ve often come across in Virginia. When will the paper cover that menace?
[Photo from the Flickr stream of AlbinoFlea.]
Our basement usually got one or two a week when I lived in Virginia. I became an expert at catching them. Still weren’t as bad as gypsy moth caterpillars, which got so bad in the summer of ‘89 that we had to burn trees in the neighborhood.
Comment by Mike — October 17, 2007 @ 10:00 am
UGH - so THAT’S what we keep finding in our house! My god they can jump a mile and they are just hideous to look at. It’s been keeping me up at night!
Comment by Michelle Frost — May 6, 2008 @ 12:09 am
I had them in my house when I lived in Arkansas in 1999-2000. They are huge, ugly and I swear they can’t be killed. I would stomp them with my ex-husbands workboots and them for him to scoop up but they would be gone when he got home. I know it sounds crazy.
Comment by Tammy — July 11, 2008 @ 12:25 pm
oh my goodness! They are so scary and disgusting! What makes them worse for me is that they look spider-ish and but jump so far and fast! Even the baby ones are hard to kill. I have come across one that was literally the size of my palm! And yes…I too have had them somehow disappear on me after i thought i just smashed it. I looked everywhere in the bathroom and i couldnt find it. I started checking my hair and the back of my shirt haha.
Comment by Jasmine — July 16, 2008 @ 11:18 am
i did not know what those where i thought it was a mix breed btween spiders and crickets cause they are in my basement and i called them spider crickets
Comment by Latiffany — July 22, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
I live in TN and they are all in our house but you can never tell where they actually come from one second and you look over and its in the middle of the floor I hate them they scare me!
Comment by Amber — July 25, 2008 @ 4:23 pm
I found the best way to kill them is with wasp killer spray. I use the foam type. Shoots 10 feet.They will die within a few minutes after shooting them with the spray. Works great.
Comment by bob — August 3, 2008 @ 9:50 pm
omg!! i hate these things!!!i just moved to virginia and i freaked out whenever i first saw them! they look like a cross between a spider n grasshoper. they are n the bathroom n laundry room.well im glad i found out what they were so i can tell my husband!
Comment by abbie — August 8, 2008 @ 12:59 am
i nicknamed them SPIDERMONKEYS! theyre sooo annoying and i feel that i can never get rid of them no matter how many i kill one night, then next night there are two more~ =(
Comment by Jennifer — August 13, 2008 @ 12:34 am
Come on! Though they have an unsettling appearance, these buggers don’t do any real harm. They don’t sting or bite. Everyone needs to relax and go after mosquitoes, fleas or ticks.
Comment by TP — August 14, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
OMG!! I have bee searching to find out what these are! We had 2 in our bedroom (month ago) .. which i sucked up in the vacuum!
then last night my dog was playing with something as i shut the lights out.. I turned them back on and there were 2 not as big as the ones last time.. but it freaked me out!.. got out the vacuum again.
So this morning i tore apart our bedroom and out 1 jumped from underneath the bed… i could find it.. i continued to vacuum and clean.. nothing.. so now i’m so freaked out to sleep tonight.. i feel like i things crawling on me!!! yuck
Comment by kris — August 18, 2008 @ 9:36 pm
I recently moved to Maryland for my job and the first time i saw one it jumped off the stairs and landed directly at my feet, needless to say i freaked out cause it looked like a spider but the more i looked at it from a distance and it sat there i kept thinking but it only has 6 legs not 8 it cant be a spider from everything i learned back in school. So i too chased it around with the vacuum. And i have also had one that could easly wrestle my hand it was so big. I just keep woundering how they are getting in the house.
Comment by Melissa — August 26, 2008 @ 8:47 am
These are the nastiest things I’ve seen! Found them at work in a grooming salon. They look like a giant flea-cricket to me! I hope I never find another one!
Comment by Paige — September 5, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
I’m only thirteen and i founf this in my house it really scared me there are going to invade our insects if they keep coming to england!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111
Comment by Bethany.m — September 17, 2008 @ 5:56 pm
I live in Virginia, too, and I have them in my basement. They are disgusting! I found that the sticky paper (smells like peanut butter) that is available for catching mice works great on the crickets… and other little critters! I seldom see any now except on the paper DEAD. When it gets full, my husband picks it up and replaces it with another sticky board.
Comment by Marilyn — September 20, 2008 @ 7:28 pm
just reading all of these entries makes my skin crawl. i lived in virginia for 20 years and never got use to them. they are the scariest alien/predator bug i have seen ever. i also noticed the bug disappearance. i started thinking there sinister buddies came and picked up there dead bodies up after i killed them. another thing i noticed or maybe just imagined is that the nasty little sprickets would jump at you or towards you instead of away from you. glad to know im not the only one terrified of them.
Comment by bobbie jean — September 21, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
How do we get rid of them???
Comment by Todd — September 24, 2008 @ 10:16 pm
I live in Virginia and have to kill at least three a day…The dead bodies have disappeared on me too. The wikipedia article says they will eat their own limbs to avoid starvation- I’m wondering if the live ones are eating the dead ones! I’ve decided they are the earth embodiment of the Alien Sigorney Weaver destroyed.
Comment by Daisy — September 26, 2008 @ 7:15 am
OMG! im so happy i finally know what those are. these things are the reason im not afraid of bugs. my dad and i used to go hunting for them in my basement. well, not hunting. we would just chase them around cuz they would jump so high they would hit the ceiling! but yeah they are very very hard to kill cuz i swear they have bodies of steel!!! ive always called them sprickets(hald spider half cricket) lol. my boyfriend calls them death crickets. lol. they are creepy but now that i know what it is, i wont be so hesitant to throw them outside!
Comment by Heather — October 2, 2008 @ 12:12 am
I live in Maryland and noticed them in the basement when we moved in 6 years ago. One of them jumped up and right at me. Scared me to death! I had never seem them before. I thought they were spiders, but I knew that spiders didn’t jump that high. After trying a few ways to ger rid of them, (spraying, letting the cats attack them, vacuuming them up) we tried the plug in insect repellers. It cost us a little bit of money, but they worked! We have not had any more in the basement since. We only see them occasionally in the garage now. (There’s no plug in repellers in the garage.)
Comment by Wendy — October 2, 2008 @ 8:35 pm
I have killed camel crickets and noticed that they do disapper. I have found other camel crickets eating the dead ones.
Comment by Kelley — October 3, 2008 @ 11:03 pm
I’ve seen two of these in the basement which is pretty much where I spend most of my time, so I’m lucky to have not seen more. I just saw one earlier today but it was the first one that I saw that wasn’t injured. I thought it was the offspring of a spider and a cricket but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a species I had never seen before. It was really kind of scary because it started jumping at first away from me the first two jumps but then backwards right towards me. They are truly a very creepy insect. Luckily I now know what it is and can maybe keep an eye out for any more before they get near me.
Comment by Chris — October 15, 2008 @ 12:44 am
I live in nw suburbs of Chicago and I have seen these ugly creatures 3 times since I’ve lived here. I know they’re “harmless” but whenever i have seen them, I didn’t sleep until I killed them.
Comment by John Steele — October 15, 2008 @ 9:07 am
One time while looking up camel crickets, I ran across websites about camel spiders. They come from the Middle East and are larger, more hideous and ARE venomous unlike these things.
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Comment by John Steele — October 15, 2008 @ 9:19 am
OMG… I live in Locust Grove, Va… and my hubby and I just bought our first house 2 months ago. and wow let me tell you theses jumpy crickets are invested in our down stairs.. they only come out at night time and i see any where from 10 to 20 of them a day in my house!!!!! I DONT KNOW WHERE THERE COMING FROM.. HELP!!!!!!!!
Anna
Comment by anna — October 15, 2008 @ 4:01 pm
These disgusting creatures, which we refer to as “HOPPERS” are are always spotted in the middle of the night and they jump so high! We are petrified to get up in the middle of the night and awake to one jumping on our feet or legs.
Comment by Denise — October 18, 2008 @ 8:43 am
They’ve hit NY. I kill these nasty little critters all the time, and I swear they multiply like Gremlins after I go to sleep. Harmless but Hideous and they keep coming there’s one now!!!
Comment by Tom — October 18, 2008 @ 8:30 pm
I live in central Illinois and these things have infested my garage and I have seen a few in my house. As was mentioned before the best way I have found to get rid of them is with the sticky mouse paper. You can catch several at a time. Hope this helps those of you with real bad infestations.
Comment by Dave — October 23, 2008 @ 7:52 am
omfg
i live in long island ny and i have those in my basement
im telling you there is nothing i fear no person or any bug except those freakin crickets
it made me more scared of them when i saw one walking up a wall in my moms office
Comment by jake mance — October 23, 2008 @ 2:11 pm
I live in Texas out in the country and we are infested with the nasty little suckers! I call them Prehistoric Crickets because they look like something from when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth! I think they could scare T-Rex! The stick traps are working but they are still everywhere. Do NOT watch TV in the dark, they will jump on you! It has happened to me 2 times and one it got stuck in my hair! When you smoosh them they “pop” because of their had outer skeleton. I do not sleep at night and we have done everything there is to do! They have become my biggest fear and I am terrified of them because they are so freaky looking and they always jump on me! I would be very happy if they would become extinct like the dinosaurs! I am glad I am not the only one out there that is freaked out by them!
Comment by Amber — October 23, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
My first thought when I saw about a hundred of these things in my upstate South Carolina crawlspace was that my house was built on top of a toxic dump site, and I had discovered some radioactive, mutated form of insect. In any case, now that I know what they are, it’s not QUITE as bad. I placed about 2 or 3 cans of bug “fogger” under my house, and it seems to get rid of them (for about a year, then I do it all over again).
Comment by Mike D — October 27, 2008 @ 6:47 am
I lived in Northern Virginia for 20+ years, and had these horrible things in my basement all the time. When I went down to the laundry room and turned on the light, these hideous monsters would jump right at me. Needless to say, I usually ran upstairs to get away from them. And yes, they were very hard to kill. Foggers and wasp spray worked for me too. But the sight of them always creeped me out. About a decade ago, we moved to Nebraska and, so far, have not seen one “spricket.” It’s been wonderful to go to the basement and not have this ugly surprise waiting for me. — Sheila H.
Comment by Sheila Hill — October 29, 2008 @ 10:30 pm
THis is my first year of seeing these after living in the same house for 34 years. I have lost lots of sleep over them. I guess I will try the fogger along with the sticky paper. They are really creepy thing. One thing I have found is that at night they come up into the kitchen from the basement I think. I take a long handled brush like a swiffer and can kill them but I won’t pick them up and leave them for my husband in the morning. I have noticed some have been gone in the morning leading me to believe that others carry them away. UCK!!
Comment by Mo — November 2, 2008 @ 12:48 am
In the last month I’ve caught several of these ‘camel crickets’. The way to catch them is to lower a plastic cup above them slowly until you are a few centimeters away from the ground. At that point slam the cup to the ground. the bugger will be caught inside. They are harmless but will scare guests when they come over.=)…They usually come out at night and sleep during the day. I put the ones i catch into a tall jar. I had 4 and now 2. They eat thier own, they are carnivores. I am wondering what I can do to rid the basement of these critters. Mothballs??
Comment by stan — November 4, 2008 @ 1:47 pm
I have never in my life have seen these before and I am happy that I finally know what they r. It’s like after u kill one the whole colony of them want their revenge on the person who killed it. Today I woke up with one right above me. So I caught in a jar and got on the computer to find out what they were. THEY R CREEPING ME OUT!! I will try the mouse paper thing and other things. Happy spider cricket hunting!
Comment by Tonya — November 9, 2008 @ 7:32 am
My basement is crawling with them. We have had them in basement for years. They went away for a little bit but they came back with more.how do we get rid of them?
Comment by mary — November 14, 2008 @ 7:44 pm
I’m from NJ & I just found one of these creepy buggers for the first time. It really freak the hell out of me. As you all are saying I thought it was a spider, then a mutation of some sort.IT WAS ON MY KITCHEN COUNTER, AAAHHHHH! My husband & I put a bowl over it & carried it out of the house. It was pretty big & I thought if we killed it, there would be bug guts all over. As I’m reading these other comments I’m getting more creeped out that there will be more soon. I’m not really wanting to turn the lights off & I keep thinking one is on me. I hope I never see one again,UGH.But it’s nice to know what they are, how to kill them & that other were as freaked as I was. I’m getting the wasp sray out!!!
Comment by Lisa — November 16, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
These critters are discusting! I cant kill them fast enough. Every day I go down stairs in the basement to hunt them! What I’ve found that works better than my fly swatter and bug spray; place a small night light in the wall plug and leave it on, they are drawn to the light, then sneak down stairs and kill them little !#$#@! You can also place a sticky pad for bugs near the light too, but that takes away from the fun of KILLING THEM!
Comment by Alecia — November 17, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
Long Island NY
Lots of these guys in my basement. Have been spraying and putting down “Duct Tape” where I know they move about (works great).
How can I get rid of them?
Catch at least 4 or 5 every night on the tape!
My wife freaks out and I have to go on a “Safari” every morning to the basement (laundry room) before I leave for work. Wearing me out.
Any ideas.
Comment by Ron — November 18, 2008 @ 8:15 am
My basment is always invaded by them. I once caught one under a vase. 3 months later, I picked up the vase. Still alive! They are discusting creatures and always invade in winter and fall. During summer and spring, HUGE, black crickets invade. That’s what happens in my basement!!!
Comment by Mike — November 24, 2008 @ 10:28 am
I just moved to Indiana from California. My husband found these creepy things in the garage (also where my laundry is…), but recently we have found two in the house now. They creep me out! I know they won’t hurt you, but the thought of them crawling around while you sleep, keeps me awake at night. I hate them! I have never seen anything like this in cali! I keep wondering also how they get in the house? I came across a web site that says to plug up all holes and openings, under the doors, vents, etc. So, I’m on a mission now to rid my house of them! They freak my kids out!
Comment by Angie — November 26, 2008 @ 9:14 am
I live in Iowa along the Mississippi River edge on the sand. I just found out what these hideous things were.
Damn they are creepy. The only difference I have from the rest of you is the ones I have don’t sleep in the daytime. I find them anytime in my bathroom. I will try the sticky paper for mice and see what happens. I have plugged holes but somehow they find a way in. Really freaked out with them. Of course the hubies always think it is funny. The only thing worse here then the prehistoric crickets are the mormon(mayflies). They stink like dead fish.
Comment by Janice — November 30, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
I live in Wichita KS and have had two of these critters in the last 2 days. The first one was on the floor. The second was on my daughter’s bedroom wall. I tried stepping on the first and it didn’t kill it. We ended up drowning them both in bug spray. Disgusting. Nobody I have told believes me when I tell them how big they are. How can I get them to quit coming in my house??
Comment by Melisa Limon — November 30, 2008 @ 5:55 pm