Have you noticed an overabundance of crickets lately? McDonalds and the YMCA have been hit pretty hard. The lasting dry weather followed by recent rains are the cause of the problem.
Many businesses around town have become breeding grounds for the little chirpers. Crickets are attracted to bright light and any business that leaves their lights on at night is bound to have an entrance full of hopping insects the next day.
One local pest control guy suggested using Tempo around your building or home and that should kill the existing bugs and ward off any others. Spraying once a week will be most effective. Also cleaning up the dead bugs will help prevent others from coming.
The main cause of the outbreak has been the dry summers which cause cracks in the dirt. Crickets love to lay eggs in the additional cracks and this causes a large amount of baby crickets waiting to be hatched. Once the rain hits, those eggs begin to hatch. We most likely will not see an end to the Cricketfest until the first hard freeze.
So be sure and keep your lights out at night if at all possible. If not, be sure and spray followed by a cleanup.
Here's a little video of the corpse cleanup that goes on at our local YMCA. Thanks to Dale King for the breaking footage.
