Cricket in the house: how to get out and get rid of the restless lodger?

As the folk sign says, if there was a cricket in the house, it promises happiness and well-being to the owners. Only people who have this "happiness" started, for some reason, are looking for a way to get rid of it more quickly. With this misfortune it is quite possible to cope.

We will be familiar - house cricket

Homeland of house crickets are semi-deserts and deserts of Central Asia, North Africa and warm regions of the Far East. Gradually, this insect spread to the northern and western regions, settled throughout Europe, then, having crossed the oceans, got to the countries of North America and even to the south of Australia.

Cricket is a small insect( 16-25 mm long), somewhat similar to a grasshopper, but with a shorter and denser body. Coloring - from light tones of pale to dark brown. His wings are well developed, and he can fly, although he does it quite rarely. This insect is quite common, so most people know what a cricket looks like.

These creatures are thermophilic. At temperatures below 20 degrees, insects become inactive, stop eating. Their larvae also cease to grow and develop. Therefore, on the street they live and reproduce only in the south. In the middle lane, the cricket of the house family lives on nature only in the hot summer months, and with the onset of cold snap moves closer to the person. These insects no longer live behind the stoves, as in the old times, but settle on heating mains, warm cellars, boiler rooms. For them the premises of livestock farms are excellent, where there is always a warm and abundant food. Therefore, in such premises there are usually a lot of crickets. These insects are frequent visitors not only in a country house, but also in a city apartment.

Crickets feed on plant remains, but they also eagerly eat and catch insects, such as cockroaches. Males guard their territory. They enter into fatal battles with the competitors found, after which the winners eat the vanquished. Crickets are nocturnal, and in the daytime they hide in secluded cracks.

Females lay between 50 and 200( and in favorable conditions - up to 500) eggs in a secluded place. About a month later( although the term is highly temperature dependent), larvae hatch from eggs, which differ from adults only in size and lack of wings. After 6 weeks, during which they moult several times, the larvae turn into sexually mature insects.

Home cricket does not last long - the life cycle duration is 3-4 months, of which only 1.5 live in the form of an adult.

There was a cricket in the house - why wait?

Crickets live next to people since ancient times. It's no wonder that there were a lot of superstitions about this troublesome "lodger".People's sign says that the appearance of the "singer" in the house foreshadows the hosts joy, luck, wealth and prosperity. In addition, there is a belief that if there is a sick person in the house, he will soon recover, and if there is a bride or groom, then one should prepare for the wedding. But to kill a cricket is not recommended, as it can bring misfortune on the house.

How to treat these signs - everyone decides for himself. In fact, it should be remembered that these insects tend to get into human housing in search of warmth and food. And the goal of the "songs" - the trill of the male - is to lure the female. In any case, a couple of sleepless nights have to decide how to bring out the crickets.

How to get rid of an annoying "neighbor"?

If there was a cricket in the dwelling, it would not remain unnoticed for the household. Monotonous trills, which prevent sleep at night, invariably give rise to a desire to get rid of this uninvited "guest" as quickly as possible. There are several ways to do this.

• For those who believe in signs and do not want to destroy the "singer", you should catch him and let him out into the street. To do this is quite difficult, since these insects are active only in the dark. During the day they hide, and finding their refuge is not easy. In addition, crickets are very cautious and mobile, jump well. At approach of the person quickly run away and are hammered somewhere in a crack. Therefore, to bring the "singer", will have to work hard.
• Somewhat easier, finding an insect, forget about the signs and slam it( for example - a sneaker).
• The easiest and most reliable way to get rid of a restless "neighbor" is to use a chemical to combat domestic insects. Only when carrying out the disinfestation and after it must strictly follow the instructions so as not to accidentally harm people and pets.
• If it is not possible to use the chemical method, you can withdraw the cricket by using sticky traps for insects.
• There is a proven folk way to get rid of night concerts. In the area from which the trills are most often heard, it should be puffed up with a lighted wax. An annoying insect quickly retires from this territory and will forever leave an unpleasantly smelling apartment.
• You can try to create conditions in which crickets can not exist. They settle in places where there is constant access to water. They are warm bathrooms, kitchens. In a dry environment, these insects either perish, or leave to look for more suitable places to live. It is necessary to block access to moisture, to ensure an ideal dryness in the premises, and the question of how to get rid of cricket, will no longer arise. At the same time, the health of pets and people is not endangered.
• If there was a cricket in the apartment, then there is no cat in it, which is a natural hunter for such living creatures. Take in the kitten's house, and he quickly catches jumping "singers", and at the same time and from mice will forever save.

Thus, getting rid of these insects in a house or apartment is not so difficult. But you should consider how to prevent the appearance of crickets in your housing in the future. After all, the uninvited "guest" somehow got into the apartment. Therefore, it is necessary to repair all cracks and crevices along the skirting boards, the places of passage of pipes through the walls, to hang the opening windows and the windows with mosquito net.