Field crickets invade NW OKC shopping center sidewalk

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A bunch of creepy critters invaded a northwest Oklahoma City shopping center on Monday.

The shopping center is located near Memorial and Penn. The sidewalks of the center are currently covered in crickets as Oklahoma has seen an influx of the bug this summer.

We first told you about an unusual number of field crickets in the city a couple weeks ago, but shoppers in that area got a shocking site on Monday alone before going into the store. You could see the crickets on the ground, up the walls and even on the ceiling of most storefronts.

“What brought them here? Yeah, why? It’s gross,” shopper Jenna Jones said.

“I was wondering if they were going to drop on me,” shopper Sherrie Campbell said. “So many of them.”

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Both Campbell and Jones said they didn’t see very many inside if at all. However, the sidewalks were another story.

“The reason they’re everywhere, especially around buildings, is that they’re attracted to lights at night,” said Alex Harman. An insect diagnostician at Oklahoma State University. “So, if you have a building or a porch light that’ll shine and then the crickets will just fly to it.”

Harman told KFOR earlier this month that they go through population cycles based off the weather. If there’s extended droughts toward the beginning or middle of the summer, that’s when the population goes up.

“If less of the nymphs are killed off by like fungi and predators and things like that during the middle of the summer, then you end up with more adults,” Harman said.

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Harman added that this year there seems to be more than usual, but this is the time of year where you see a lot of them anyway. Don’t worry though, they’re harmless.

“In general, field crickets are just living their life,” Harman said. “They eat a little bit of plant matter, they’ll feed on some insects, they’re not really doing anything that cause humans harm.”

Harman said it becomes difficult to get rid of them completely because they’re not just in one place. Exterminators can try and get rid of them, but more will show up if there’s lots of light. You can easily keep them out of your homes and businesses by keeping doors closed and window screens taken care of.

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