Tiny crickets on my lawn?

[db]

Over the past several weeks I've been finding an ever-growing number of tiny crickets all over by back yard. They're less than 1/2" long and dark in color. It's to the point now that I can see the grass move as they jump out of the way when I walk across the lawn. I'm trying to find out what kind of crickets they are and what I should do to manage them.

I live in Northern Virginia. Our back yard is mostly shaded, somewhat damp in spots, but not really swampy. We have some dead areas of browned grass and a few spots that have turned mossy on the soil surface where the grass has died off. This is our first spring/summer in the house. I was trying to wait to see the full cycle of seasons before starting on the lawn, but realize I probably need to start this fall with soem management for next year. We have zoysia in the front which gets lots of sun exposure, but the back seem to be a mix of grasses.

From what I've read I don't think we have mole crickets, since the

crickets I've seen are very small and I can't find any major tunneling. We have a small child and I'm nto too fond of her playing in the yard amongst all the little critters...the mosquitos out there are bad enough.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

-Dave

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) Over the past several weeks I've been finding an ever-growing number of :) tiny crickets all over by back yard. They're less than 1/2" long and :) dark in color. It's to the point now that I can see the grass move as :) they jump out of the way when I walk across the lawn. I'm trying to :) find out what kind of crickets they are and what I should do to manage :) them. :) :) I live in Northern Virginia. Our back yard is mostly shaded, somewhat :) damp in spots, but not really swampy. We have some dead areas of :) browned grass and a few spots that have turned mossy on the soil :) surface where the grass has died off. This is our first spring/summer :) in the house. I was trying to wait to see the full cycle of seasons :) before starting on the lawn, but realize I probably need to start this :) fall with soem management for next year. We have zoysia in the front :) which gets lots of sun exposure, but the back seem to be a mix of :) grasses. :) :) >From what I've read I don't think we have mole crickets, since the :) crickets I've seen are very small and I can't find any major tunneling. :) We have a small child and I'm nto too fond of her playing in the yard :) amongst all the little critters...the mosquitos out there are bad :) enough. :) :) Any suggestions? Thanks. :) :) -Dave :) :) Probably a type of field cricket...a general insecticide treatment will kill a zillion of them but probably not stop them...there are various cricket baits that you can put out in specific areas that may help reduce the numbers...put the bagger on the mower and suck em up.

[db]

Thanks. If I choose to leave them as is, what impact will they have on the lawn? I assume they'll keep increasing in number, so I guess getting them now makes sense. Do they have anything to do with the brown patches on the lawn? What's the best way to manage them in the future? In other words, since is our first year in the house, where'd they come from!?