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Why Do Crickets Make Noise at Night? It Is Only the Males

Crickets chirp at night to attract females and warn off rivals, by rubbing their wings together. Why it stops when you approach, and how to quiet one indoors.

By Zakaria 3 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A black field cricket on sunlit stone beside fallen autumn leaves, forewings and long antennae visible
Photo: Marta Wave, Pexels License, via Pexels
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Only the males chirp, and they are doing one of two things: calling females or warning off other males. Everything else about the behaviour follows from that.

How the sound is actually made

The common description — rubbing its legs together — is wrong.

  1. The male raises his forewings into a vertical position
  2. A hardened scraper on one wing is drawn across a file of ridges on the other
  3. A membrane on the wing amplifies the vibration
  4. Some species dig burrows shaped as horns to amplify it further

That last step is why a two-centimetre insect can be audible across a garden. A mole cricket in a properly shaped burrow is closer to a loudspeaker than to an insect.

Why at night

Day against night, for a singing male
DayNight
PredatorsBirds hunting by sightFar fewer
Being located by the callDangerousMuch safer
AirWarm, turbulentCool, still — sound carries further
Cricket activityShelteringActive

Singing is inherently risky: it tells everything nearby exactly where you are. Night reduces the cost of that without reducing the benefit.

The chirp as a thermometer

Crickets are cold-blooded, so the muscles driving the wings speed up as it warms.

Dolbear’s law, for the snowy tree cricket: count chirps in fourteen seconds, add forty, and you have a rough temperature in Fahrenheit. Species differ in the constants, but every one of them chirps faster when warmer.

Why it goes quiet when you walk over

Crickets detect ground vibration through organs in their legs and airborne sound through membranes on the front legs. Your footsteps arrive long before you do.

Stand still for a minute or two and it starts again — which is exactly the technique for finding one in a garage at midnight.

Getting one out of the house

Finding it: wait for the chirp, walk toward it, stop when it stops, wait, repeat. They like warm, dark, humid spots — near boilers and water heaters, in basements, behind appliances, under cupboards.

Keeping them out:

  • Seal gaps around doors, vents, pipe entries and window frames
  • Reduce damp in basements and utility spaces
  • Cut outdoor lighting near doorways — lights bring them to the house, and then they come in

Outdoors they are worth leaving alone entirely: they eat plant material and organic debris and feed a great many other things. A lone cricket in a garage is a noise problem, not a pest problem.

Common questions

Why do crickets make noise at night?

Only the males make it, and they are advertising. The chirp is a mating call aimed at females and a territorial signal aimed at rival males, and it happens at night because that is when crickets are active and when the risk from daytime predators like birds is lowest. Cooler, stiller night air also carries the sound considerably further than warm daytime air does.

How do crickets make that sound?

Not with their mouths or legs — with their wings. The process is called stridulation: the male raises his forewings and draws a hardened scraper on one wing across a file of ridges on the other, while a membrane on the wing amplifies it. Some species dig burrows shaped to work as horns, which is why a single cricket can be startlingly loud for an insect a couple of centimetres long.

Why does the chirping stop when I get close?

Because the cricket has detected you. Crickets sense ground vibration through organs in their legs and pick up airborne sound through membranes on the front legs, so footsteps register well before you arrive. Chirping makes a male easy to locate, so falling silent is a straightforward anti-predator response. Stand still for a minute or two and it usually starts again — which is the standard way to find one indoors.

Do crickets chirp faster in warm weather?

Yes, and reliably enough to use as a rough thermometer. Crickets are cold-blooded, so the muscles driving the wings work faster as temperature rises. Dolbear's law captures it: for the snowy tree cricket, counting chirps in fourteen seconds and adding forty gives a decent approximation of the temperature in Fahrenheit. Different species have different constants, but the direction is the same for all of them.

How do I stop a cricket chirping in the house?

Find it and put it outside, which usually means waiting for it to sing, walking toward the sound, stopping when it stops, and waiting again. They favour warm, dark, humid places — near boilers and water heaters, in basements, behind appliances, under cupboards. Longer term, exclusion is the answer: seal gaps around doors, vents and pipe entries, reduce damp, and cut outdoor lighting near doorways, since lights draw them to the house in the first place.

Are crickets harmful?

Not to people. They do not bite meaningfully, carry no disease of concern, and outdoors they are useful decomposers eating plant material and organic debris. Indoors a large population can chew paper, fabric and stored food, and house crickets in particular will damage clothing given time. A lone chirping cricket in a garage is noise, not damage.

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