What's this bug?

[emka]

I have had some very unwelcome visitors lately. They are big black bugs with six legs, two spikes at the rear end and two long antennae on the head. They don't quite look like any cockroach I have seen before. Body length: 2.5 cm without rear spikes and antennae.
What are they? And how do I get rid of them? I found them inside my house although I had sprayed Mortein (outside variant) on door and sliding door thresholds.

Insect, 2.5cm long.jpg

[72andsunny]

Looks like some kind of cricket. Try to coax it outside with a violin.

[Fern49]

Looks like some kind of cricket. Try to coax it outside with a violin.

Yes, looks like a cricket

[72andsunny]

black field cricket?
p17963nsil.jpg

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photogra...-field-cricket

[emka]

Ah! Perfect. That's it.
So now that we have identified the guest, how do I make it feel unwelcome? I don't mind their noise, I actually quite like cricket noises because it is a sound of summer. But I don't like to have them inside.

[dharder]

Get a cat. Ours quite likes to munch on the odd cricket, and that seems to scare the others away.

[emka]

Get a cat. Ours quite likes to munch on the odd cricket, and that seems to scare the others away.

I'll have a dog in a few months, which doesn't necessarily exclude a cat, but getting a cat, too, might start a zoo. Too much of a good thing...
Anything else that works on crickets?

[Gran]

Maybe you have discovered a clue Dharder, could it be that the smell of a squashed one will frighten the others away, like greenfly. We found the crickets came down from the roof through the light fittings, so we fitted turned up buckets in the roof over each light fitting with holes in the bottom for ventilation, problem solved. I guess thats the eco solution.

[72andsunny]

Ah! Perfect. That's it.
So now that we have identified the guest, how do I make it feel unwelcome? I don't mind their noise, I actually quite like cricket noises because it is a sound of summer. But I don't like to have them inside.

As much as I hate to do it, we're having our house sprayed for ants, flies, and spiders tomorrow (and I think at least one of those poisons also kills roaches and crickets, which we don't really have a problem with). The spiders have been terrible this year and have tipped the balance of: children in the house vs. poison in the house towards the poison.

I think there's a market for crickets. If you can catch them, a pet store will probably give you 10 or 20 cents each...

[Mara]

Love the violin suggestion, but I think a bit of a jig is required as well