I’m a Huge Bug Wuss. This Chemical-Free Powder Killed Them So I Didn’t Have To.

A photo of a bag of Harris Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth next to the applicator.

Some people fear heights. Some fear public speaking. I fear bugs — to the degree that I once engaged in a 20-minute stare-down with an already dead cockroach in my New York City apartment as I worked up the nerve to dispose of it.

When I moved from the city to the Hudson Valley in the spring of 2021, I quickly realized my garage had some arthropod squatters in the form of cave crickets, so named because they’re drawn to dark, moist spaces. You may also know them as camel crickets (for their hump-backed bodies) or spider crickets (because their legs are so long they’re often mistaken for giant meaty spiders).

Whatever you call them, they’re big, ugly, and annoying. Plus, they can chew on fabrics and cardboard, and their droppings can leave stains. Though harmless to people and pets, I found them unsettling to share space with.

I tried ignoring the few invaders, keeping an eagle eye on them while I grabbed firewood or plugged in my lawn-mower battery. But over time an occasional lurker turned into several. When my wife uncovered dozens of them amassed behind a sheet of styrofoam I’d left propped against the wall, I realized we had a problem and got serious about extermination tactics.

At first, I deployed a can of Raid insect spray. The spasmodic deaths felt cruel. Plus, I hated having to get close enough to spray them, and I didn’t like launching pesticides into such an enclosed space. Next I tried glue traps, which didn’t work since I most often found the crickets clinging to the garage’s walls. Then I came across diatomaceous earth, which seemed like a hands-off, synthetic chemical–free solution perfectly suited to someone who, like me, would rather not face their fears.



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