Indian House and Field Crickets are the two most common crickets in Arizona These crickets do not bite or carry diseases

Indian House Crickets

Description:

Light yellowish?brown or tan in color with darker bands and spots, about 3/4?inch long when mature; these are the most common and troublesome crickets. They often gather around foundations and doors outside and readily come inside through cracks or openings. They are the only type of cricket that may live and produce young indoors. They typically hide during the day and come out at night to feed on crumbs, pet food, and plant debris.

Problems:

Indian House Crickets are primarily nuisance pests. The males attract females by "chirping" at night, which can be extremely annoying for homeowners. The "chirping" sound is produced by the males rubbing their wings together. These crickets also may produce piles of unsightly droppings. When there are extremely high numbers of Indian house crickets they may feed on fabrics and drywall. Outdoors, they may damage young garden plants and annual flowers.

Field Crickets

Description:

Larger than Indian house crickets (slightly more than 1 inch when mature) and usually dark brown to shiny black in color, field crickets also enter houses and buildings. These crickets prefer to live and breed outdoors where they feed on several kinds of plants. Occasionally they invade homes in search of hiding places but do not produce young indoors.

Problems:

Field crickets are known to chew on and damage woolens, cottons, silks, synthetic fabrics, furs and carpeting. Clothes with perspiration stains or food spills are particularly attractive. Outdoors, they may damage young garden plants and annual flowers.

The song of the field cricket is temperature dependent. The tone and tempo drop with a drop in temperature. Count the chirps in 13 seconds, add 40, and you will have the approximate temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.