Question: I keep seeing this bug around my house, mainly in our basement
(which has been finished),it looks like a small grasshopper/beetle. It is
brown in color with yellow stripes and it's head is a solid reddish brown.
It is pretty fast in running. It has 4 small legs with 2 larger hind legs.
My husband and I have never seen this type of bug and was wondering if you
know what it is. Also, it seems to come from our wood pile in the
basement. Whenever I throw a few pieces of wood in our wood-burning stove,
one or two seem to come out. I can't find any kind of a nest in the wood,
but I have killed about a dozen in the past week. Can you help us identify
this bug.
Thank you,
Cathy
ANSWER Probably what you have found are common camel crickets (sometimes called cave crickets). These insects have become pests in recent years. They look a bit strange with their long antennae, large hind legs, and absence of wings, but they are crickets.
Camel crickets live in dark and moist areas, and are often found in basements, crawlspaces, and garages. They don't do any significant damage to household materials because they feed on fresh and dead plant material. They can be a nuisance because of their habit of forming large aggregations, and surprising the unsuspecting homeowner when he moves a box or gets into the crawl space under the house.
The best control would be to remove as much of the stuff (stored boxes, etc.) they use to hide in. It is sometimes necessary to reduce the humidity in the structure to control camel crickets. An insecticide application on the outside foundation can help to prevent others from coming in.
