Every late summer the valley fills with the sound of crickets, and the doorways fill with the crickets themselves. They are more than a nuisance: they are what feeds the scorpions.
The heavy swarms arrive in late summer, mostly late July through September, and they line up closely with the monsoon season. The storms that roll through from July to September raise humidity and saturate the soil, and the warm nights that follow are prime cricket weather. You hear the chorus first, then within a week or two the crickets themselves are piled around every lit doorway in the neighborhood.
The activity eases as fall nights cool, but it does not vanish on a schedule. A mild valley winter can keep a smaller cricket population active well past when people expect, especially in irrigated yards. The late-summer spike is the one that drives most calls, but crickets are around in some number nearly year round here.
Light is the main driver. Crickets are powerfully drawn to bright exterior lighting, parking-lot lamps, and the white glow of porch and garage fixtures. After dark they gather wherever the light is brightest, which is usually your entries, your garage, and the walls beside them. Once a crowd of crickets is sitting at the base of your wall, every gap becomes an invitation.
From there they find the same entry points everything else uses: the gap under a garage door, the corners where the door meets the track, weep screeds at the base of the stucco, and unsealed thresholds. A few small changes blunt this fast. Switching bright white bulbs near doors to warmer, lower light, or putting entry lights on motion sensors so they are not blazing all night, cuts the crowd that gathers. Clearing dense plantings, mulch, and debris against the foundation removes the cool daytime shelter that lets them stay.
This is the part most homeowners never connect, and it is the most important. Crickets are a primary food source for the Arizona bark scorpion, the one valley pest with a sting that lands people in urgent care. A yard heavy with crickets is, from a scorpion’s point of view, a stocked pantry. Where the crickets gather, the scorpions follow.
So a bad cricket year often comes with a scorpion problem a few weeks behind it, particularly on the desert-facing edges of Henderson and the new tracts that back onto open land. This is exactly why we treat the food source as part of scorpion control. Spraying a baseboard does nothing about the buffet of crickets outside drawing scorpions to your walls. Knock down the crickets and you remove a big reason scorpions are interested in your home at all.
Stopping crickets is the same playbook we use for the rest of the valley’s pests: reduce what attracts them, then seal what lets them in, then treat the perimeter so the barrier holds. Here is the order that works.
Crickets fall under general pest control, so a first visit usually runs $125 to $200, with recurring quarterly service around $90 to $150 to keep the barrier intact through the season. If the cricket load is clearly feeding a scorpion problem, scorpion-specific service usually runs $150 to $300 up front. The cost guide breaks both down, and the FAQ page covers what a recurring plan includes.
The big swarms hit in late summer, usually from late July through September, lining up with the monsoon storms. Warm nights and bright lights pull them toward buildings in huge numbers. The activity tapers as nights cool in fall, but a mild winter can leave a smaller population active longer than people expect.
Light. Crickets are strongly drawn to bright exterior and parking-lot lighting, so they pile up around lit entries, garages, and walls after dark. Once they are at the wall, any gap, a garage corner, a weep screed, a door threshold, becomes a way inside. Cutting back bright white lighting near doors makes a real difference.
Yes, and this is the part most people miss. Crickets are a primary food source for the Arizona bark scorpion. A yard full of crickets is a yard that feeds scorpions, so a heavy cricket season often comes with a scorpion problem close behind. Treating the crickets removes the food source that draws scorpions in.
Reduce what attracts them and seal what lets them in. That means adjusting bright lighting, clearing debris and dense plantings near the foundation, and closing gaps at garage corners, thresholds, and weep screeds, paired with a treated perimeter. A maintained quarterly plan keeps the barrier intact through the late-summer push.
Crickets are covered under general pest control. A first general visit usually runs $125 to $200, with recurring quarterly service around $90 to $150. If the cricket pressure is feeding scorpions, scorpion-specific service usually runs $150 to $300 up front. See our general pest control page or the cost guide.
We are a licensed, local crew. General service covers crickets and usually runs $125 to $200 for the first visit. We treat and seal the perimeter so the late-summer swarm, and the scorpions it feeds, stay outside.
Last updated: May 28, 2026.
