The fall is a magical time of year for Texans. It brings all the best stuff, like football, frigid 89-degree temperatures, and election season.
It also brings lots of disgusting crickets that get everywhere, stink to high heaven, and make us wonder which vengeful god we’ve pissed off this time. (On second thought: Don’t answer that.)
KUT’s Lauren McGaughy was at the Texas Capitol Tuesday morning and observed what looked like a “biblical plague” of the insects crowded against the building. If you’re new to Texas, the swarms of crickets might make you wonder if we’ve been cursed by the Almighty. The short answer is “maybe,” but also — this is a yearly thing.
In the late summer and early fall, adult field crickets start popping up around Texas homes and commercial buildings, drawn by outdoor lighting and the fall mating season.
Jeremy Mazur of the policy think tank Texas 2036 posted on X that the “cricket swarm surrounding the Texas Capitol and within really gives the place an Indiana Jones-like adventure vibe.” Others also added their own pics of the visitors.
“Cricket outbreaks are one of the most predictable pest events of the year in most areas of Texas,” writes entomologist Michael Merchant of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, adding that reducing outdoor lights is the most important step to control crickets.
As for your house, crickets are mostly a nuisance. But they can damage clothing, drapes, or wall coverings courtesy of their bodily functions.
The best move is common sense precautions: Sealing door thresholds, weep holes, soffits along the eaves of homes, windows, and garage doors.
Another good idea, of course, is to make jokes.
Anyway, that’s why there are so many crickets lately. It’ll happen again next year. And the next.
Cricket populations usually thin out by late fall or early winter, according to the folks at 855Bugs.com, a Central Texas pest control company.
Just in time for our annual grid collapse!
