You head down to grab something from the basement, flip the light on, and a fat, humpbacked bug springs straight at your face. That's the classic camel cricket move, and it's the reason a lot of people call them spider crickets. Learning how to get rid of camel crickets in the basement starts with understanding what pulls them in: cool, damp, dark space. They don't chirp, they can't fly, and they jump toward whatever startles them, which makes them feel a lot scarier than they are. Take away the moisture they need and seal the cracks they crawl through, and that basement stops looking like home to them.
Quick answer
To get rid of camel crickets in the basement, take away the dampness they depend on. Run a dehumidifier, fix leaks, and improve ventilation. Set sticky traps along the walls to catch the ones already inside, then caulk cracks and seal gaps so more can't get in. Call a licensed pro if they keep coming back.
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What Camel Crickets Look Like (and Why They're Called Spider Crickets)
Camel crickets are easy to pick out once you know the shape. They've got a humped back that arches up like a camel's, long back legs built for jumping, and even longer antennae that wave around in front. The color runs tan to brown, often with darker bands across the legs. They're wingless, so they don't make the chirping sound people expect from a cricket. They're completely silent.
The nickname spider cricket comes from those long, spindly legs and the way they sprawl out, which gives them a spidery look in dim light. Two things stand out about their behavior. They have no aim when they jump, so they'll launch right at you instead of away, and they only do it because something startled them. It's a defense reflex, not aggression. There's nothing behind it.
Are Camel Crickets Dangerous?
Short answer: no. Camel crickets don't bite people in any meaningful way, they don't sting, they aren't venomous, and they don't carry disease. If you're wondering whether camel crickets are dangerous, the real answer is that they're a nuisance and nothing more. They can't hurt you, your kids, or your pets.
What they can do is chew. Camel crickets are scavengers that feed on fungus, plant material, and just about any organic matter they stumble across, and in a pinch that includes fabric, cardboard, and paper. A big group living in a basement or storage room can leave small chewed spots on stored clothes, boxes, and other soft goods over time. They also breed quickly in the right damp conditions, so a couple of sightings can turn into a steady population if the moisture stays. The fright factor is the worst part. A bug that jumps at your face in a dark basement is unsettling, even when it's harmless.
What Attracts Camel Crickets to Your Basement and Garage
Camel crickets are chasing one thing above all else: moisture. They need damp, humid air to survive, so they gravitate toward the coolest, dampest, darkest corner of your home. That's almost always a basement, a crawl space, or an attached garage. Add a little clutter for cover and some organic matter to nibble on, and you've built them an ideal habitat without meaning to.
Here's what tends to draw them in and where:
| Spot | Why they gather there | What to fix |
|---|---|---|
| Basement | Cool, humid air and damp concrete walls | Dehumidifier, seal foundation cracks |
| Crawl space | Standing moisture and almost no airflow | Vapor barrier, better ventilation |
| Garage | Gaps under the door and damp corners | Door sweep, sealed thresholds |
| Storage clutter | Dark hiding spots and cardboard to chew | Plastic bins, clear the floor |
| Window wells | Damp leaf litter against the glass | Clean wells, install covers |
Step One: Dry the Space Out
Moisture is the whole game with camel crickets, so drying out the basement or garage is your single most effective move. Set up a dehumidifier and run it to keep the air from staying clammy. If the space has vents or windows, get some airflow going so the dampness doesn't just sit there.
Then go after the source of the water. Fix leaky pipes and dripping faucets, patch spots where the foundation seeps, and make sure the ground outside slopes water away from the house instead of toward it. Check the gutters and downspouts too, since water dumping next to the foundation soaks right through. As the space dries, camel crickets lose the humidity they can't live without, and they stop wanting to be there.
Step Two: Trap and Clear the Ones Inside
Drying the space out handles the future. Now deal with the crickets already living down there. Sticky traps are the simplest tool that works. Lay flat glue boards along the baseboards, in corners, and near doorways, since camel crickets travel along walls rather than out in the open. Check the traps every few days and swap them as they fill. A run of them across a basement gives you a real sense of how big the population is, too.
Clear out the clutter while you're at it. Stacks of cardboard boxes, piles of fabric, and junk on the floor all give camel crickets dark cover to breed and hide in. Trade cardboard for sealed plastic bins, get stored items up off the floor, and vacuum along the cracks and edges to pull out crickets and eggs before they multiply.
- Place glue boards along walls, in corners, and by doors where crickets travel
- Vacuum baseboards, cracks, and dark corners to remove crickets and eggs
- Swap cardboard storage for sealed plastic bins
- Get boxes and stored goods up off a damp floor
- Keep the floor clear so there's nowhere dark to shelter
Step Three: Seal Them Out
Camel crickets get inside through gaps you'd walk right past. Once the space is drier and the current crowd is thinning, close the doors behind them. Caulk cracks in the foundation, around basement windows, and where pipes and wires pass through walls. Add weatherstripping and a door sweep to the garage and basement doors, since the gap under a door is a wide-open highway for them.
Outside, pull mulch, leaf piles, and dead plant material back away from the foundation, because that damp debris is where they stage before slipping inside. Clean out window wells and consider covers for them. Keep the perimeter dry and tight, and you cut off the next wave before it ever reaches the basement.
When to Call a Pro
A handful of camel crickets usually clears up with moisture control, traps, and some sealing. But if they keep turning up after you've dried the space out, or you're finding them in real numbers across the basement, crawl space, and garage, the population is bigger and more settled than the sightings suggest.
Camel crickets breed fast in damp conditions, and a crawl space or wall void you can't easily reach can hide a lot of them. A licensed local pro can pin down the moisture sources you missed, treat the cracks and voids where they shelter and lay eggs, and set up a plan so they don't drift back in. If the jumping bugs in the basement have gone from rare to routine, that's the point to bring someone in.