Camel crickets and cave crickets in the basement: what they are, and what they mean
Published Updated
By John Stopka, Co-Founder & CEO · Reviewed by John Stopka
The humpbacked, long-legged crickets that jump when you disturb them in a basement or crawlspace are almost certainly camel crickets, also called cave crickets or spider crickets. University of Kentucky entomologists describe them as harmless despite how they look, and they do not chirp — the chirping people expect from a cricket comes from house and field crickets instead. What camel crickets do tell you is something about the space they are in: they live where it is dark and damp.
What are the humpbacked crickets in my basement?
Camel crickets — a different branch of the cricket family from the ones that sing.
University of Kentucky's guide to Kentucky crickets sorts them into three families: Gryllidae (field, house and tree crickets), Gryllacrididae (camel and cave crickets) and Gryllotalpidae (mole crickets) [1]. UK describes camel and cave crickets as large, wingless crickets, around an inch and a half long, "common in dark, moist places like caves and basements where they scavenge for decaying plant and animal materials" [1].
Three things identify one on sight: the humped back, the very long legs and antennae, and no wings. Camel cricket, cave cricket and spider cricket all name the same insect.
What else are camel crickets called?
Cave cricket, camelback cricket, spider cricket — all the same insect, and each name describes something you can see.
The Illinois Department of Public Health describes them as "brown, wingless," with "long antennae and spindly legs sometimes described as spiderlike," and an "arched, humpbacked body" [5]. That arch is the camel and the camelback. The long, thin legs are why people reach for spider. IDPH says the cave name comes from the habit: they are "named for inhabiting caves and cave-like places such as damp basements and crawlspaces" [5].
They are large for a cricket — University of Kentucky puts them at about an inch and a half, and wingless [1] — which is why the ones people find often get described as huge or giant.
If you searched for a big cricket-looking bug, or something half spider and half cricket, this is almost certainly it.
Are camel crickets dangerous?
No. That is worth saying first, because alarm is what brings most people here.
"Despite their fearsome appearance, they are harmless" is how UK's cricket guide puts it [1]. Camel and cave crickets "will commonly live in dark cellars and in crawlspaces, but they cause no harm and prefer to stay out-of-the-way of people" [1]. They are scavengers, not wood-destroying insects [1].
The jump is what makes them feel like a threat: the big back legs are the family trait [1], and a startled camel cricket uses them. People routinely describe the jump as coming toward them rather than away. Either way it is an escape response from an insect with no way to hurt anyone.
Do camel crickets bite?
University of Kentucky's answer to the whole question of harm is one sentence: "Despite their fearsome appearance, they are harmless" [1]. UK adds that camel and cave crickets "cause no harm and prefer to stay out-of-the-way of people" [1], and that they are scavengers, feeding on "decaying plant and animal materials" [1] rather than on people, pets or the structure.
The fear is understandable — a large, long-legged insect that jumps when startled reads as a threat. It is not one.
Why is the cricket in my basement silent?
Because camel crickets have no wings, and cricket song is made with wings.
UK describes the chirp as produced with a "stridulating organ" at the base of the wings [1]. Kentucky Pest News is more specific: "The chirping is created by rubbing the wings together; the right wing has rows of 'teeth' that rasp against the left wing to generate sound" [2].
Camel crickets are wingless [1] — nothing to rub together.
Male crickets chirp by rubbing their wings together, mostly at night, to attract females. House crickets chirp, but camel crickets don't.
If you are hearing chirping, it is not the insect on the basement floor.
How do you tell camel crickets from house and field crickets?
By wings, by sound and by where you find them.
House and field crickets have wings and chirp. UK says the two are "very similar, but field crickets tend to be darker in color", and that although they "do not infest food or harm humans", they are "considered pests when they wander into homes, especially when their chirping causes a disturbance" [1]. Illinois Extension describes the fall field cricket as quiet outdoors but, indoors, "very very loud and very good at hiding" [4].
Camel crickets are the opposite: wingless, silent and humpbacked.
Why do camel crickets live in basements and crawlspaces?
Because those conditions suit them: dark, damp and undisturbed.
UK places camel and cave crickets in "dark, moist places like caves and basements", and notes that although they are very common, "you may have to crawl into a basement to find them" [1].
The contrast with the chirping species is the useful part. A field cricket indoors is out of place — Kentucky Pest News says "Usually it is too dry and there isn't enough food for them to last long in structures" [2].
A camel cricket under the house is not out of place at all. It is there because the space is not too dry, and a population that stays is telling you the space stays damp. That is worth following up, because the same conditions matter to insects that are not harmless — Liberty's article on crawl space moisture covers where the water comes from and what follows it.
How do camel crickets get into the house?
At ground level, through gaps that are smaller than you would expect.
UK's pest-proofing guidance puts the threshold at a sixteenth of an inch for insects and spiders [3], and points at the places that are usually wrong: the gap under an exterior door, utility openings where pipes and wires pass through the foundation, unscreened crawl space and attic vents, and cracks around window and door frames [3].
Inside, they settle low and dark.
Crickets come inside from lawns, mulch and woodpiles and settle in basements, garages and crawlspaces.
What keeps camel crickets out?
Sealing the ways in, and drying the space out.
UK's pest-proofing guidance is the standard list: door sweeps or thresholds at exterior doors, sealed utility openings where pipes and wires enter the foundation, caulked cracks around windows and doors, repaired screens, and quarter-inch wire mesh over crawl space and attic vents [3]. Doors are worth checking from floor level, because "Gaps of 1/16 inch or less will permit entry of insects and spiders" [3].
For the ones already inside, UK is plain: "a vacuum cleaner or broom is often the best response to the occasional bug that wanders in from outdoors" [3].
How do I get rid of camel crickets in the basement?
Two things, in this order: take away the way in, then take away the damp.
For the ones already inside, UK is plain: "a vacuum cleaner or broom is often the best response to the occasional bug that wanders in from outdoors" [3].
For the ones still coming, seal the gaps above [3], and check doors from floor level.
Neither step matters much if the space stays wet. A camel cricket population that keeps coming back is reporting on the conditions, not on the sealing.
How long do crickets live?
Not long as adults, and not long at all indoors.
House and field crickets go from egg to adult in about two to three months, and the adults live a couple of months more. Field crickets have one generation a year: the eggs spend the winter in the soil, the adults appear in late summer, and they die off with the first hard frosts — which is why the chirping stops in fall.
Camel crickets grow more slowly and can live around a year, which is part of why a damp basement can hold them year-round.
Indoors, in dry, heated rooms, crickets do not last long. They need moisture, and a cricket that wanders out of the basement into the living area usually dries out and dies. Steady numbers inside mean a steady supply of damp space, not a long-lived cricket.
How does Liberty handle crickets?
Crickets are a plan pest, not a separate job.
Crickets come inside from lawns, mulch and woodpiles and settle in basements, garages and crawlspaces. Every Liberty pest control plan covers crickets.
Crickets are handled on your regular pest control visits.
- Your Service Specialist applies a perimeter barrier around your home's foundation for crawling insects, to help keep crickets from getting in under doors and through gaps.
- Your first visit always includes treatment inside where crickets settle, like basements, garages and laundry rooms, and on later visits they treat inside only if it's needed and ask you first.
When to call a professional
Call when crickets keep turning up on the lower floor after you have sealed what you can find, when the basement or crawlspace stays damp, or when you are not sure what you are looking at.
An inspection settles the identification first. Chirping crickets that wandered in are passing through; a camel cricket population under the house is settled, and that is a conversation about the space as much as the insect.
Common questions
Are camel crickets dangerous?
No. University of Kentucky entomologists describe them as harmless despite their appearance, and say camel and cave crickets cause no harm and prefer to stay out of the way of people [1].
Why don't the crickets in my basement chirp?
Because they have no wings. Cricket song is made by rubbing the wings together, with rows of teeth on one wing rasping against the other [2]. Camel crickets are wingless [1], so they are silent.
What is the difference between a camel cricket and a house cricket?
Wings, sound and habitat. House and field crickets have wings and chirp, and are pests mainly when that chirping disturbs people indoors [1]. Camel crickets are wingless, humpbacked and silent, and live in dark cellars and crawlspaces [1].
Do camel crickets mean I have a moisture problem?
Often, yes. They live in dark, moist places [1], and a population that persists under the house says the space stays damp. Chirping crickets that get indoors usually do not last, because structures are too dry for them [2].
Do camel crickets bite?
University of Kentucky describes them as harmless, says they cause no harm and prefer to stay out of the way of people, and describes them as scavengers of decaying plant and animal material [1].
What is a spider cricket?
The same insect. The Illinois Department of Public Health describes camel crickets as having "long antennae and spindly legs sometimes described as spiderlike" [5], which is where the name comes from.
How big do camel crickets get?
About an inch and a half, and wingless [1].
Why are camel crickets called cave crickets?
They are "named for inhabiting caves and cave-like places such as damp basements and crawlspaces" [5].
How long do crickets live?
House and field crickets live a few months as adults, and field crickets die off with the first hard frosts. Camel crickets grow more slowly and can live around a year. Indoors, in dry rooms, crickets dry out and die quickly.
Do pest control plans cover crickets?
Yes. Every Liberty pest control plan covers crickets, treated on the regular schedule inside and outside. Drying out the space that attracts them is separate work.
Sources
- University of Kentucky Entomology. Blake Newton. "Crickets" (Kentucky Critter Files). https://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/crickets/crickets.htm (opens in a new tab)
- University of Kentucky Entomology. Jonathan L. Larson. "The Fall Field Cricket, a Singing Invader" (Kentucky Pest News, 1 October 2019). https://kentuckypestnews.wordpress.com/2019/10/01/the-fall-field-cricket-a-singing-invader/ (opens in a new tab)
- University of Kentucky Entomology. Michael F. Potter. "How to Pest-Proof Your Home" (ENTFACT-641). https://entomology.mgcafe.uky.edu/ef641 (opens in a new tab)
- University of Illinois Extension. "Episode 72: Fall Field Cricket – Voice of the Wild." 12 September 2025. https://extension.illinois.edu/podcasts/voice-wild/episode-72-fall-field-cricket-voice-wild (opens in a new tab)
- Illinois Department of Public Health. "Occasional Invaders" (Structural Pest Control). https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/environmental-health-protection/structural-pest-control/occasional-invaders (opens in a new tab)