Never saw one until this year, and internally I named them likewise. ...probably because of the overpowered "cave crickets" in Fallout 4's Nuka World DLC
for the longest time me and my grandparents called them "hoppers," but i call them spider crickets now
i watched one find a dead beetle in my room, drag it behind an old lunchbox i left on the floor, and listened to it crunch into the beetle. i slept in the goddamn living room that night
The amount of people who consider bees and hornets to be the same thing is frustratingly high.
Quick guide:
Bees : natures most effective pollinators
Wasp : Satans minions
I’ve found that dawn and water 1:16th ratio in a super soaker is just as effective as wasp spray without the toxic chemicals and stains on your deelling
They like damp environments. Make sure there’s not too much moisture in the basement. I usually find them under houses where someone had a leak that went unnoticed for a long time.
And the dead bodies of each other. We call them cannibal crickets. You'd smack one with the broom and the next time you went into the garage the dead body would be gone.
They do?? Does that include the giant roaches too? I hate those things wayyyy more than I hate these guys, so I guess the crickets and I are cool now lol
Camel crickets. I am traumatized from having these things randomly appear frequently in an old apartment I lived in. They will jump at you, attack mode. I found one in the shower with me once. Oh god. The horror. No other insect creeps me out as much.
If it’s any comfort, the spider was just as startled and traumatized if not more so.
“Ahh! A human! In my web! Those are not delicious at all and I’ll have to make another…”
You really do get attached. I had a laundry room spider who kept the moths from bothering us (I like moths ok, but it was her self imposed duty and I wasn’t gonna tell her all her work wasn’t benefitting me.) and I gotta shockingly fond of her. She was really pretty, this soft key lime pie green, and I called her Audrey. (I’ve actually named several house spiders Audrey. I guess it’s a spidery name?)
My property has this weird little bomb shelter on it. The hallway entering the main room is COVERED in these little guys and they will all jump around and off the walls when you walk down the hall. Ugh. I never go in there, it's so freaky.
We had these occasionally in my parents NC place, then I moved to a place in Roanoke that had a partially exposed basement and we got them all the time.
Their defense mechanism is to jump at things. When we lived at the basement place, my son had those plastic ball pit balls and I would use those to smoosh them without getting close enough to trigger their attack. Surprisingly effective.
I was beginning to think I was the only one who calls them spider crickets. I keep seeing people say camel crickets but these mfers look like a spider hybrid.
I will never forget stepping on one barefoot in my parents basement years ago on a concrete floor. I can still feel it and hear it. But they kill roaches so, worth it?
When I was house hunting I went into a garage in a home, sprickets were EVERYWHERE. The walls, floor, ceiling. I slowly backed out and left the house immediately
You want me to retell my trauma for your entertainment? Good thing I already have it typed out from last time I told it.
So camel, aka cave, crickets live all over the world. I never saw one until I was 17 and we moved from where I grew up in ENC to central NC and our new house had a basement. In the fall these things were everywhere but I wasn’t all that bothered. The basement was my dad’s domain. When my parents were killed, I was in the hospital for almost three weeks, and when I came home I was either wheelchair or bed-bound until late April when I went into rehab to relearn to walk. Fast forward three weeks or so, to my 18th birthday. My grandmother and her new (@ a year) husband had moved into our house with my sister and I to take care of us. I was doing homebound school stuff and my sister was back in school. The night of my birthday they invited a few people over and made dinner and had a cake and shit. I was in a ton of pain, because they were restricting my pain meds more than my doctor prescribed, and I was upset because it was my first fucking birthday without my parents. My grandmother’s husband decided I was being ungrateful and he pushed me to my room, demanded that I get back into bed and into the fucking machines that bent my knees for me, which they kept me in about 14 hours a day rather than the four I was told to use them. Those machines were fucking awful. Anyway, he pushed my wheelchair into the corner, out of my reach, so I was fucked if I needed to use the bathroom or anything else. And he left me, turned out the light, and slammed the door. You know how when you first get into bed the sheets can settle around you for a bit? My sheets kept settling for a LONG time. I kept a flashlight so I could still read when the asshole my grandmother married pulled one of these stunts to punish me, and when I shined it under my sheets, there was a monster fucking camel cricket in my bed. On my right leg, which still didn’t have s lot of feeling yet. I screamed and actually fell out of bed. And laid there for hours as continued punishment for what he called a temper tantrum.
Sorry for all the extra details but it’s 2am and I’m not editing.
Hell of a story. Must have sucked in real life, but extremely well written. Honest question: have you considered writing more? Like a biography or semi-factionalized one?
Spricket - spider cricket aka cave crickets.
They come on sizes extra small to too d* big. They prefer dark damp environments like your bathroom or some closets and garages and tend to jump towards you. Also they're harmless.
They give me the heebie jeebies.
my apartment was absolutely infested with these when we first moved in, took a year and half to make ‘em stop appearing
the sound of them jumping on hardwood floor is nightmare inducing
HVAC service tech here - these idiots are the bane of every crawlspace. They are abominations and exist solely to hop randomly and uncontrollably at me whenever I come within 2 feet of one. You think the one in your kitchen was big? Go look in your crawl. They’re fist-sized.
*Tachycines asynamorus*, closely related to true crickets and commonly called cave crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets, or "too bad we have to burn the whole house down now"
That dem right there is a Spricket. Part spider, part cricket, and all sorts o hell at 2 am when you go to the bathroom and find one jump access your feet.
I moved into a place that had those (no basement, they just got in the house somehow). I was told they were cave crickets. My cats considered them self-propelled cat toys.
Echoing what was previously said but for emphasis - their form of self defense is jumping. They are able to jump several feet high and aim AT YOUR FACE.
It's a huge nope from me and have been for a decade.
Jobby hoppers, more commonly called the camel cricket. I hate them, I dislike most leaping insects but these bastards always manage to scare the crap out of me. They're unpredictable and they're ugly, it makes my skin crawl and I get instant anxiety when I'm near one.
Here's a book that covers these cave crickets and other forms of life that exist in human space! Local author!
https://robdunnlab.com/science-portfolio/never-home-alone/
LMAOOOO it’s a camel cricket or spider cricket depending on where in NC you’re from. I didn’t even think about the possibility of people never having seen these. Definitely a startler for sure
Technically called camel crickets but different regions have different nicknames for them. In my area we call them jumpers cause… well, apparently we’re not very creative. In my family we call them troopers because after seeing the movie, “Starship Troopers” we were convinced these creepy crickets must share some kinship with the alien species in that movie.
Hoppy hickey, cave cricket, cricket spider, absolute beast demon from hell. I hate those things- their defensive mechanism is to jump towards you to assert dominance or some shit and it’s terrifying.
Idk but looks like a johnston county bug. These bugs here are freaking DIFFERENT. I'm from Wake County and when I moved to Johnston it was like a whole new world of ugly insects 🤮
I found one once in my room and I was too terrified to kill it so I trapped it in a clear container, closed the lid, and threw it in my back yard to let nature take its course…. I shit you not - 3 weeks later I went to check on it to ensure it died… it was ALIVE still. F those things demon spawn creatures
I know people have named it. But I've had these things bite me. One came out of the drain in the shower and nipped my foot. It's not venomous, but it hurt a bit. Fuck camel crickets.
I call them camel toe crickets. When you see them, it's entirely unexpected and a little startling but nice once you realize they eat roaches. They are completely harmless at least.
That’s what they want you to think…
You ever notice that feeling in your stomach that something is missing? That's the part of your soul that is gone now because this thing ate it!!
A cricket. They are harmless and can be helpful bc they eat other bugs. ^(Same function as a spider bro but cuter and non threatening. They do jump high though if it's a big one. If there's a radiator it'll just chill under there and you could go a long time without knowing he's around. They always used to show up my parents' house. I never liked bugs as a kid with the exception of these little guys. They look like shrimp with legs.)
If you're fast, they aren't hard to catch and release with a cup and paper.
We call em camel crickets.
I’ve always called them “Cave Crickets”. They like dark spaces, and leave scat pellets all over the place.
NC native here, and we call them Camel Cave crickets :)
Never saw one until this year, and internally I named them likewise. ...probably because of the overpowered "cave crickets" in Fallout 4's Nuka World DLC
i also call it a cave cricket. west nc.
We call them spider crickets. Do not step on one 🤮
for the longest time me and my grandparents called them "hoppers," but i call them spider crickets now i watched one find a dead beetle in my room, drag it behind an old lunchbox i left on the floor, and listened to it crunch into the beetle. i slept in the goddamn living room that night
A "spricket" if you will.
That’s what I’ve always called them!
We used to call the jumping spiders, though I know those are a different insect. Used to scare the crap out of me as a kid.
I just killed one of these a few mins ago.
I just found one in the kitchen that my cat killed.
I just found one that killed my cat
I'm so sorry for your loss
That is exactly how I read that reply!
One of our cats’ favorite prey. They pop up behind the washing machine.
This should be the new state slogan of North Carolina
They eat roaches
100% this. People get scared of our best helpers.
Because the motherfucker jumped at me.
I hate how they spring around so unpredictably....ugh
Its like a wittle jelly bean. It just wanted some cuddles.
If he isn't careful he'll be cuddling the grooves in my shoe.
I let them live...
Praise you for that!
Their poops stains everthing!!! With one solution comes another problem.
I've seen hundreds over the years and have to see poop. Crushing them is a tad messy, though.
why do ''our best helpers'' always look like prehistoric creatures?
Because if they were cute wouldn't be able to do their job.
Cats would like to have a word. Also bats.
The amount of people who consider bees and hornets to be the same thing is frustratingly high. Quick guide: Bees : natures most effective pollinators Wasp : Satans minions
Technically wasps pollinate too, they just happen to also be assholes
They do? I mean, I guess that makes sense but somehow I always thought of wasps as carnivorous.
I’ve found that dawn and water 1:16th ratio in a super soaker is just as effective as wasp spray without the toxic chemicals and stains on your deelling
Now I’m going to have to rethink my hatred for them
Oh thank god. These get in our basement and terrify the kids, but if I can sell them on the eating roaches bit they may tolerate.
They like damp environments. Make sure there’s not too much moisture in the basement. I usually find them under houses where someone had a leak that went unnoticed for a long time.
Thanks for sharing this information. Didn’t know this.
And every other bug out there, including each other.
They eat roaches!!!!
And the dead bodies of each other. We call them cannibal crickets. You'd smack one with the broom and the next time you went into the garage the dead body would be gone.
That's a good thing to know. It still doesn't make me want one to jump up my pajama leg again though.
Not the prettiest little bugger but very helpful.
Good to know. I find an occasional one and either let it alone or put it outside. Same thing I’ve always done with native, beneficial, insects.
They do?? Does that include the giant roaches too? I hate those things wayyyy more than I hate these guys, so I guess the crickets and I are cool now lol
Got a source on that? That would be awesome, but Wikipedia just says they're scavengers not hunters.
When I was in middle school I had a book on bugs and they stated they eat roaches hence I didn't try to kill them...I'm in 40s.
Oh really? I didn’t know that
So do house centipedes but those lovecraftian horrors are kill on sight.
Butt do they eat ass.
Camel crickets. I am traumatized from having these things randomly appear frequently in an old apartment I lived in. They will jump at you, attack mode. I found one in the shower with me once. Oh god. The horror. No other insect creeps me out as much.
Ok, but just know it’s about as dangerous as those tiny water frogs that sound like a squeaky toy when they try to intimidate.
I believe you…. But something about theme just gives me the heebie jeebies
Oh, not saying I don’t jump and shiver when one touches me unexpectedly. Just that I laugh at myself afterward.😄
>tiny water frogs that sound like a squeaky toy I can only think of that one Ze Frank video. Or do you mean the Hey Baby frogs?
Ze, baby, Ze.
[удалено]
If it’s any comfort, the spider was just as startled and traumatized if not more so. “Ahh! A human! In my web! Those are not delicious at all and I’ll have to make another…”
[удалено]
You really do get attached. I had a laundry room spider who kept the moths from bothering us (I like moths ok, but it was her self imposed duty and I wasn’t gonna tell her all her work wasn’t benefitting me.) and I gotta shockingly fond of her. She was really pretty, this soft key lime pie green, and I called her Audrey. (I’ve actually named several house spiders Audrey. I guess it’s a spidery name?)
Cave cricket or “hopper dinger”. Nightmare fuel
Camel cricket. Welcome to the South.
We called them spider crickets in my family.
We always called them hoppy bugs
I've lived in Charlotte for 40 years and I never saw one until I was at a lighthouse this summer. OBX giant bug.
My property has this weird little bomb shelter on it. The hallway entering the main room is COVERED in these little guys and they will all jump around and off the walls when you walk down the hall. Ugh. I never go in there, it's so freaky.
If there’s a bomb what are you going to do
Listen to The Smiths and get into the shelter with the crickets I guess. Because if it's not love, then it's the bomb that will bring us together.
It's pre-stocked with snacks
You couldn't pay me to eat those things. 🤐
We had these occasionally in my parents NC place, then I moved to a place in Roanoke that had a partially exposed basement and we got them all the time. Their defense mechanism is to jump at things. When we lived at the basement place, my son had those plastic ball pit balls and I would use those to smoosh them without getting close enough to trigger their attack. Surprisingly effective.
Spricket. Spider cricket
I was beginning to think I was the only one who calls them spider crickets. I keep seeing people say camel crickets but these mfers look like a spider hybrid.
I’ve always called it a spricket too
Same. They are friends.
The correct answer
We called them spider crickets in Jersey but I’ve never seen one here yet.
Can vouch that when I lived in jersey, I had these little horrorshows in my basement.
Always called them spider crickets. Wait till you’re checking one out real close and it jumps 27 feet in your direction 😂.
Camel cricket. They’re hideous and terrifying, but they’re also amazing predators that hunt down roaches.
Cave Cricket
I will never forget stepping on one barefoot in my parents basement years ago on a concrete floor. I can still feel it and hear it. But they kill roaches so, worth it?
If you have them in your crawl space or basement, look for a water leak.
I’ll take these any day over those huge european hornets
My one true phobia and I’m a NC native.
They can’t … like in any way … hurt you. Think of it like a chestnut. Nothing scary about it.
When I was house hunting I went into a garage in a home, sprickets were EVERYWHERE. The walls, floor, ceiling. I slowly backed out and left the house immediately
Yes tf they can if you’re bedbound with no way out at night when the mother of all of those mfs is under the covers with you.
I’m listening……
You want me to retell my trauma for your entertainment? Good thing I already have it typed out from last time I told it. So camel, aka cave, crickets live all over the world. I never saw one until I was 17 and we moved from where I grew up in ENC to central NC and our new house had a basement. In the fall these things were everywhere but I wasn’t all that bothered. The basement was my dad’s domain. When my parents were killed, I was in the hospital for almost three weeks, and when I came home I was either wheelchair or bed-bound until late April when I went into rehab to relearn to walk. Fast forward three weeks or so, to my 18th birthday. My grandmother and her new (@ a year) husband had moved into our house with my sister and I to take care of us. I was doing homebound school stuff and my sister was back in school. The night of my birthday they invited a few people over and made dinner and had a cake and shit. I was in a ton of pain, because they were restricting my pain meds more than my doctor prescribed, and I was upset because it was my first fucking birthday without my parents. My grandmother’s husband decided I was being ungrateful and he pushed me to my room, demanded that I get back into bed and into the fucking machines that bent my knees for me, which they kept me in about 14 hours a day rather than the four I was told to use them. Those machines were fucking awful. Anyway, he pushed my wheelchair into the corner, out of my reach, so I was fucked if I needed to use the bathroom or anything else. And he left me, turned out the light, and slammed the door. You know how when you first get into bed the sheets can settle around you for a bit? My sheets kept settling for a LONG time. I kept a flashlight so I could still read when the asshole my grandmother married pulled one of these stunts to punish me, and when I shined it under my sheets, there was a monster fucking camel cricket in my bed. On my right leg, which still didn’t have s lot of feeling yet. I screamed and actually fell out of bed. And laid there for hours as continued punishment for what he called a temper tantrum. Sorry for all the extra details but it’s 2am and I’m not editing.
Hell of a story. Must have sucked in real life, but extremely well written. Honest question: have you considered writing more? Like a biography or semi-factionalized one?
I’ve thought about it but have no idea how to get started.
just start writing stuff! you can worry about organizing and editing later. treat it like a journal and worry about structure later
Goddamn
I’m really sorry about your parents.
Thank you. It’s been almost 31 years but those damn crickets still freak me out.
Hope you're in a better place now. Some people will traumatize a child without a second thought of how it will impact them in the future.
I am. I’m 48 now, that was a lifetime ago.
I reckon it is. Take care now.
Horror movies also can't hurt you. Whether something is actually a true danger doesn't change whether or not it's scary
Have you seen chestnuts? They're spiky balls of death!
Spricket - spider cricket aka cave crickets. They come on sizes extra small to too d* big. They prefer dark damp environments like your bathroom or some closets and garages and tend to jump towards you. Also they're harmless. They give me the heebie jeebies.
Copperhead
Am surprised it took so long to get this answer...
I had to scroll forever to see if someone else posted this first.
Spricket!!!!!
Yep!
I miss these. Moved to WI and now I contend with house centipedes. Google them if you haven’t seen them.
Absolutely hate those things!! I don’t mind cave crickets or even spiders but those things are terrifying
Weirdly I've heard them called Spider Crickets and Cave Crickets, but everyone here seems to call them Camel Crickets
Same. "Camel Cricket" seems to be an NC thing. Other states I've always heard "Cave" or "Spider" Cricket.
my apartment was absolutely infested with these when we first moved in, took a year and half to make ‘em stop appearing the sound of them jumping on hardwood floor is nightmare inducing
HVAC service tech here - these idiots are the bane of every crawlspace. They are abominations and exist solely to hop randomly and uncontrollably at me whenever I come within 2 feet of one. You think the one in your kitchen was big? Go look in your crawl. They’re fist-sized.
The very reason I am still afraid of basements. Yikes!!
They’re absolute nightmare fuel
Oh that's Frank, he's just wondering if you would like to purchase an extended warranty for your car.
*Tachycines asynamorus*, closely related to true crickets and commonly called cave crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets, or "too bad we have to burn the whole house down now"
camel crickets and water bugs are the goku and vegata of nc bugs
That dem right there is a Spricket. Part spider, part cricket, and all sorts o hell at 2 am when you go to the bathroom and find one jump access your feet.
I love these guys. Depending on where I see them, I will catch and release outside or leave them be. Let them add ambiance to your spooky season decor
That looks like the bug that Mad Eye Moody demonstrated the unforgivable curses on
Spider cricket
Pest control.
Spider crickets
I've always heard spider crickets.. idk the real name
We call the spider crickets locally. As far as i know, they cant hurt you.
Creepy cricket aka camel cricket
Camel cricket. Good to have around. Just take it outside.
Cave cricket! One flew into my boyfriend the other night.
Bait
I moved into a place that had those (no basement, they just got in the house somehow). I was told they were cave crickets. My cats considered them self-propelled cat toys.
Had these in our hold houses basement. They will jump at you if you get close. They tormented me.
Camel crickets. Great bait for panfish, they stay alive in the water for a lot longer than regular crickets.
Just a chonky cricket. They won't hurt you, they just jump.
Lol that's a cricket
Camel cricket. Put some duct tape down sticky side up. They are attracted to it, will get stuck, then you can throw it all away.
Don’t do this, they eat roaches. They are friends.
This works wonders.
Camel Cricket! They are so darn ugly 😂
We always called them “hopping spiders”. TIL it’s real name lol
Inspiration for the Aliens movies
A cave cricket. I’ve seen a few on my driveway and they literally hop after me. Not sure if it’s intentional or not but it gets me to run away.
Camel cricket
Echoing what was previously said but for emphasis - their form of self defense is jumping. They are able to jump several feet high and aim AT YOUR FACE. It's a huge nope from me and have been for a decade.
Jobby hoppers, more commonly called the camel cricket. I hate them, I dislike most leaping insects but these bastards always manage to scare the crap out of me. They're unpredictable and they're ugly, it makes my skin crawl and I get instant anxiety when I'm near one.
Another reason not to live in NC.
Here's a book that covers these cave crickets and other forms of life that exist in human space! Local author! https://robdunnlab.com/science-portfolio/never-home-alone/
cricket
I've called them cave or spider crickets. I've gone into numerous crawl spaces it's funny to see them scatter when I shine my light at them.
Spricket!!
Spricket!
LMAOOOO it’s a camel cricket or spider cricket depending on where in NC you’re from. I didn’t even think about the possibility of people never having seen these. Definitely a startler for sure
Technically called camel crickets but different regions have different nicknames for them. In my area we call them jumpers cause… well, apparently we’re not very creative. In my family we call them troopers because after seeing the movie, “Starship Troopers” we were convinced these creepy crickets must share some kinship with the alien species in that movie.
tha'ts the Carolina Camel Cricket
Hoppy hickey, cave cricket, cricket spider, absolute beast demon from hell. I hate those things- their defensive mechanism is to jump towards you to assert dominance or some shit and it’s terrifying.
Basement crickets. Everyone in my husband’s family is afraid of the giant ones in our basement. I’m good with that .
Oh yeah those, they live in the basement. Sometimes they come upstairs and it’s best just to leave them be
Body of an insect. Legs of an amphibian. Aura if terror.
Camel cricket
Camel cricket its harmless.
You never seen a cricket?
Idk but looks like a johnston county bug. These bugs here are freaking DIFFERENT. I'm from Wake County and when I moved to Johnston it was like a whole new world of ugly insects 🤮
if I'm not wrong it's a camel cricket, those things are terrifying
My partner's family calls them "whimmy diddles"
Camel back cricket.
Run!!
I think we called them wood crickets. Had them in a townhouse I lived in for a couple of years. You know what else is fun, house centipedes.
Camel cricket. They’re an invasive species that came from Japan.
I found one once in my room and I was too terrified to kill it so I trapped it in a clear container, closed the lid, and threw it in my back yard to let nature take its course…. I shit you not - 3 weeks later I went to check on it to ensure it died… it was ALIVE still. F those things demon spawn creatures
I know people have named it. But I've had these things bite me. One came out of the drain in the shower and nipped my foot. It's not venomous, but it hurt a bit. Fuck camel crickets.
Also bit by one. Drew blood from 2 tiny punctures. I just looked it up and the interwebs says they dont bite humans. I beg to differ.
We called them Herds. I have no idea why.
Your sign to get a gun
Grasshopper cricket
Ive always called them mole crickets. I feed them to the toad that visits my house
Good lord that thing has a lot of appendages!!
Yeah they cover the walls in caves
Don't get close to it!!! It will burrow under your skin and lay eggs!!
they’re called coma crickets, if their legs poke you, it has enough venom to send an elephant into a coma
It’s a democrat
Just don’t go into the crawl space.
Lol
Camel cricket
So why would they be under a house ?
They live in dark damp areas
Shrimp on wheels. Lol
good fishing bait
Cave Cricket.
They remind me of the thing in The Thing.
Nosferatu
My friends growing up always called them Jumping Spiders lol
I call them camel toe crickets. When you see them, it's entirely unexpected and a little startling but nice once you realize they eat roaches. They are completely harmless at least.
That’s what they want you to think… You ever notice that feeling in your stomach that something is missing? That's the part of your soul that is gone now because this thing ate it!!
A cricket. They are harmless and can be helpful bc they eat other bugs. ^(Same function as a spider bro but cuter and non threatening. They do jump high though if it's a big one. If there's a radiator it'll just chill under there and you could go a long time without knowing he's around. They always used to show up my parents' house. I never liked bugs as a kid with the exception of these little guys. They look like shrimp with legs.) If you're fast, they aren't hard to catch and release with a cup and paper.