Today, we’re going to look at a special creature double feature. On one end, we have stink bugs, which are best known for their smell, but can also be quite noisy due to their habit of bumping into things when they fly indoors.
The second is best known for its noise, which the cricket chirping can be soothing, like sound therapy when one or two are outdoors but will drive you nuts inside or in large numbers. These crickets at night can be especially annoying!
Thankfully, these noisy bugs can be removed from your home using the same techniques.
So without further ado, here’s the:
Easy Ways of Getting Rid of Stink Bugs (and Silencing Noisy Crickets)
We won’t get into many broad solutions for pest control here, such as treating plants with insecticides, exclusion techniques, etc.
Instead, the following methods are all known to help eliminate stinkbugs, crickets, field crickets, and many other pests from your home and garden, which usually requires little effort or investment.
Aside from following eliminating these pests, make sure to check for stinky bugs and cricket infestation first to know which solution to use best.
Diatomaceous Earth
Food-grade Diatomaceous Earth (or DE for short) is an all-natural, safe remedy for all sorts of tiny pests, including cricket species.
Made from the crushed fossils of diatom shells, DE looks and feels like fine dust to humans but is a jagged minefield of broken glass at the insect level.
Sprinkle DE in places where the stinkbugs or crickets are known to hide or feed.
When they crawl over the DE, it will lacerate their exoskeletons, scraping away the waxy coating in the process.
This coating keeps moisture, and the injured bug will soon die of dehydration as its bodily fluids escape.
It should be noted that while this method is safe and non-toxic, you still don’t want to be breathing in the dust particles. Thus it’s usually a good idea to wear a mask when applying DE.
You will also need to reapply the DE every few days after it rains.
Soapy Sprays
Okay, this one isn’t the most effective out there, but it still works with patience.
Make a thick soap solution, either a 1:1 or 2:3 ratio of soap and water.
Dawn dish soap works well, but you can also use pure castile soap.
Put the mixture into a spray bottle that can handle the thicker liquid without clogging.
Now, sneak up on your prey and coat them thoroughly with the soap solution.
The soap has a couple of effects: it breaks down the waxy coating that seals a bug’s exoskeleton and clogs their aways, suffocating them.
Unfortunately, the trick here is this only works if you can coat the bug, which won’t kill them instantly.
You also have to be careful when using this outdoors around plants, as some plants are sensitive to soap, and the soap residue can lead to sun scorching.
The good news is that the soapy water can sometimes prevent the dying bug from escaping, so the corpse will be close to where you first attacked it.
Sticky Traps
Cricket trap is a tried-and-true method for killing a wide range of pests, although it does have its own drawbacks.
First of all, these are called sticky for a reason!
If you have dogs or Persian cats (which often act like dogs), you will need to make sure the sticky traps are where they can’t get access, or you will be giving them a haircut and hot bath, likely incurring a lot of scratches and bites in the process.
Also, the placement can mean everything, as the bug will have to step or land on the sticky trap to work.
Put the traps where you know the cricket or stink bug likes to hide.
Indoors, this is easy, but outside you’ll need to be more careful about placement so you don’t accidentally trap ladybugs or other beneficial insects.
Some people also like to put a little bait in the middle of the trap to entice the bug to step onto the glue.
A small dab of peanut butter and sugar can attract almost anything.
Once the bugs are stuck, it’s easy to dispose of the trap, as the bug cannot escape and will soon die.
Vacuum the Buggers
This is an incredibly easy method for the slow-moving stinkbug, but it may end up being a bit more of a game with crickets.
Simply aim, turn the vacuum on, and slurp up the bugs.
You can even use the vacuum outdoors on a patio or porch, although we wouldn’t advise trying to use it in the garden.
Note that you must take the canister and carefully dispose of the contents (or the bag if your vacuum uses them).
Try not to let the bugs escape, or you’ll have to vacuum them up all over again, as the vacuum itself will not kill the bugs.
Also, if you use a wet vac, be warned that stink bugs and crickets won’t drown instantly, so they might still be alive when you dump the water.
Here are two tips to help you enjoy the sounds of silence again on those beautiful evenings.
- Place cricket traps along walls and in corners – “Sticky traps or glue boards for mice and rats are better at catching crickets than they are rodents.”
- Crickets are intensely attracted to traditional lighting – Replace porch with yellow “bug lights” or amber LED lights.