Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Putting out feelers Date: Thu, 12 Nov 92 14:51:51 EST Message-ID: \SE A \HD Putting out feelers \SH Camel crickets seek home - yours \BY Todd Smith \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES They have humps on their backs, feelers twice as long as their bodies and powerful legs that can hurtle them 2 to 3 yards in the air. And they want to spend the winter hiding in your basement. They're camel crickets. Fans say they make great pets, but try to tell that to someone who's just startled one in a dark corner. "They scare the hell out of people," said Lee Hellman, a entomologist and professor at the University of Maryland. "They are frighteningly large and spiderlike, and when they jump from the dark they appear to be jumping spiders. . . . They are scary, yes, but harmful, no." They're plentiful in area basements this year. A relatively mild summer and a cool, wet fall helped spawn a camel-cricket population explosion. "Camel crickets come into houses and thrive in cool, wet areas. . . . And unlike being out in the wild, they are in the house with no predators," Mr. Hellman said. Camel crickets dwarf field crickets, their more common cousins. While field crickets grow to about an inch long and can jump 1 or 2 feet high, camel crickets can grow to 5 inches and leap as high as 3 yards. Comparing them to conventional crickets is like "comparing giraffes to antelopes," said David Nickle, a research entomologist with the Smithsonian Institution and the Department of Agriculture. Named for the humps on their backs, the camel crickets have no wings and don't chirp. Enhancing a creepy-crawly look are antennae twice the length of their bodies. Ancestors of cave crickets, they are native to China and came to this country by accident, probably as stowaways on greenhouse plants at the turn of the century. Mr. Hellmen first learned of the insect invasion during a classroom experiment two weeks ago when 100 students in an introductory insect class took sticky Roach Motel-type traps home with them. When they returned with the traps, Mr. Hellmen was amazed. "There were wall-to-wall crickets." Camel crickets, that is. Insect experts and area residents say they're seeing plenty of the curious critters in basements, closets, darkened hallways and stairwells. Mr. Hellman said the crickets tend to show up in seven-year cycles. While a nuisance around the house, they don't seem to cause any real harm. "I've never ever heard of them causing any agricultural damage," said Kevin Miller, a scientist with the University of Maryland's agriculture extension program. Insect experts say the best way to get rid of camel crickets is to catch them, if you can, and throw them outside. A fly swatter or household bug spray will also do the trick, if less humanely. "Only insectophobes call an exterminator," Mr. Nickle said. "They are harmless and can be disposed of easily." Another alternative, Mr. Nickle suggests, is to get an aquarium with a mesh screen top and keep a few as "great pets." "You can feed them any kind of organic matter, but I suggest Purina Dog Chow and a slice of apple," he said. One Washingtonian has made a 20-year study of the critters and has been raising them for the past three years in her Northwest home. The crickets are harmless and nothing to fear, says Sue Hubbell. "They are interesting things," Ms. Hubbell said. "They are good-sized animals and they have very simple requirements. . . . They jump, and that tends to scare people, but they are very nice and pretty impressive climbers." Her several hundred camel crickets eat commercial cricket food, oatmeal flakes and crushed cat food. Their aquariums are lined with clean sand and decorated with stone caves and terraces. "They go crazy if they can't climb something," she said. "They are very reclusive and shy." They are compulsive cleaners, and as scavengers they "tidy up the world," she said. People preferring not to share quarters with the critters should seal off lower windows and block spaces under doors with towels until winter is over. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM