June 9th. I found this…
cricket in the
kitchen one morning. I’m not sure how it got there, but there it was. I knew it
was a cricket but I didn’t know what type it was. So, I consulted Bug Guide and
tracked it down; it was a Greenhouse Camel Cricket (Diestrammena asynamora). Bug Guide confirmed my identification.
Its body was about
one inch long; about two-to-three times the size of the native crickets we see.
Needless to say…
I released it
outside.
This is the first
time I’ve seen one of these crickets in the 27-plus years we’ve lived here.
I’ve since found a second one – perhaps the first one making its way back into
the house.
Greenhouse Camel
Crickets, also known as Cave Crickets, originated in Asia and were first
sighted in the United States in the 19th Century.
Until recently, they
were found mainly in greenhouses, hence their common name. However, now they
are being found in homes in the eastern U.S. where they may outnumber the
native crickets.They are harmless to humans and scavenge dead material in
basements and garages.
The question will
be – Will they become a major pest in the future?
Reference:
- Epps MJ, Menninger
HL, LaSala N, Dunn RR. Too big to be noticed: cryptic invasion of Asian camel
crickets in North American homes. Peerj. 2014 Sep 2;2:e523
- Livescience.
Invasive Camel Crickets Widespread in US homes
- NC State News:
Greenhouse Camel Crickets Now Common in U.S. Homes
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