By Carl Ariya
One of the most disconcerting surprises Phoenix homeowners often learn is that those chirping crickets in your walls are not exactly crickets. Cricket populations in Phoenix houses usually grow into major scorpion infestations due to the Sonoran Desert’s distinctive ecosystem, especially from mid-summer, when the summer heat rises to temperatures above 115°F.
Most residents spend hours sealing the open points of entry and eliminating attractants outside, but the connection between crickets in the house and scorpion invasion is often overlooked. This relationship is critical to protect your family from harmful encounters. However, if there are regular crickets in your home that you hear, then it is best to seek help from Green Mango Pest Control in order to help minimize the issue from becoming a dangerous concern.
Why Phoenix Homes Experience Heavy Cricket Activity
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Desert Climate Creates Perfect Breeding Conditions
Because of its dry climate that yields less than 8 inches of rain each year, crickets flock to homes in search of moisture and shelter from the heat in Phoenix. Day-night temperature swings are the perfect climate for microclimates in a home for these insects.
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Urban Heat Island Effect Drives Indoor Migration
Concrete and asphalt surfaces in the metropolitan area can make temperatures 5-9 degrees hotter than surrounding desert areas. This urban heat island effect draws crickets to air-conditioned homes like moths to a flame, trying to escape the burning pavement and buildings.
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Construction Materials Common in Phoenix Attract Crickets
Stucco is popular (78% of Phoenix homes have stucco exteriors), and tile roofs provide plenty of concealment and entry points. As the temperature warms up, these materials expand and contract, leaving gaps through which crickets enter.
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Landscape Irrigation Systems Provide Water Sources
In Phoenix, the widespread use of drip irrigation and artificial turf creates puddles of water near the foundations of homes. These water sources and ornamental rocks provide ideal breeding sites for crickets, making homes just feet away from where you are living.
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Seasonal Population Booms Overwhelm Natural Controls
Cricket populations explode up to 300% during Phoenix’s monsoon season, which runs from July through September, according to Arizona State University entomology research. That spike overwhelms natural predators and forces overages indoors through the tiniest cracks and crevices.
Crickets as a Primary Food Source for Scorpions
The most common type of scorpion found in homes here in Phoenix, the Arizona bark scorpion, enjoys crickets as a food choice. Their sensing organs can feel the movement and vibration of crickets, also several feet away, through walls and floors. If crickets are calling from wall voids, attics, or basements, they are essentially advertising their location to every scorpion in the area. This is an even bigger problem because crickets are nocturnal, which is when scorpions start to hunt.
These insects are a very efficient food source; a single cricket can feed an adult scorpion for several days. This leads to a vicious circle in which prosperous cricket colonies attract several scorpions, who settle close to their food source but often cross paths with humans in the process.
Why DIY Cricket Control Isn’t Enough to Stop Scorpions
While most homeowners resort to store-bought sprays, sticky traps, and sonic devices to counter crickets, those superficial methods provide no solution to the underlying reason scorpions are drawn to your home. Crickets like to set up breeding colonies deep in the wall cavities, crawl spaces, and other areas that are too difficult for DIY treatments to penetrate. Even if the initial population of visible crickets is removed from a property, pheromone trails and waste materials attract consuming scorpions for weeks or months afterward.
Pest control companies such as Green Mango Pest Control know this relation, the environment, and the pest itself; therefore, they treat accordingly, affecting the immediate cricket population and the conditions that make them come out. They use specialized equipment that can reach some areas that you cannot get to, as well as professional-grade products that will give you longer-lasting barriers against both crickets and the scorpions they attract.
