Talk:Cricket (insect)

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Er, is a mole cricket a cricket or not? The atricle explains mole crickets as if they are true crickets, like field and tree varieties, but then lists it as a false cricket. --Spikey 02:26, 28 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] True or false??

True or false: the poem text at the bottom of this article should be at Cricket (disambiguation). 66.245.112.43 22:14, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC)

True. --Yath 22:36, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Should primary topic cricket be the sport or a disambiguation page?

See Talk:Cricket#Why_is_the_sport_here_and_not_the_insect.3F for discussion. Nereocystis 20:53, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The blackish Cricket

I'd like to know what crickets eat. Where I live we have the black kind (ground cricket?). I'd also like to know if they hibernate.

Recently I found what I thought was an albino cricket in our compost heap. I captured it, and the next day it had turned black again. I also think that it might have been a female because, when I found it, it was dragging a dead companion. Do male crickets die after mating?

--141.209.178.238 11:37, 30 August 2005 (UTC)Tetsufu

The "albino" cricket you found had actually just molted, which is why it's exoskeleton turned black again. Once an exoskeleton has been formed, it can only expand a very small amount which is why certain insects who grow over their lifespans will often shed several exoskeletons. Male crickets live after mating, so the cricket you found was likely dragging along it's own old exoskeleton. Crickets are omnivorous, so while they usually eat plant matter they will also consume dead insects and even live ones, or pretty much anything that has nutritional value. Some also hibernate, or at least try too: they rarely survive the winter, so if you see a cricket odds are that it hatched just that spring season. RentACop 03:07, 11 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] What are these?

Does anyone know what these are? They look like crickets, but I'm not even sure about that. I photographed them in Panama, near Santa Fe, central west, up in the hills. And if you know about more animals you might want to look at some more photos that need identifying at User:DirkvdM/Photographs#Plants_and_Animals. DirkvdM 07:58, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

Wow, those are neat looking. I'm not sure what they are, but the shape of the head gives me the impression that they are a type of grasshopper, and since they lack wings they're likely still early in development, maybe in the first couple instars. I'm thinking they're Lubber Grasshoppers, as they look similar to the picture below of a Lubber from panama. Of course, the color scheme is different, but that's not uncommon: the lubber in the pic is a juvinile and as an adult it's color scheme is a very different purple color. RentACop 17:20, 29 September 2005 (UTC)
http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~lmann/CIMG0897.JPG
Thanks, they really look a lot alike. Or do grasshopper species generally look so much alike? I'll put the pic in the gallery at grasshopper and ask at that talk page to see if I get a more definitive answer there. DirkvdM 07:34, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Diet?

This article urgently needs discussion of other areas beyond the chirping. For example, what do crickets eat? You can't have articles about animals without mentioning their diet. 201.235.51.21 03:52, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

I searched for this article for exactly that purpose...I wanted to know what crickets eat. Fledchen 23:52, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Legless Crickets...

I have many of the typical black crickets living around my area and in my back yard (picture B on the page). They get in my house and are incredibly annoying..but a strange thing I have noticed about them is that it is not uncommon for them to have a leg missing. Not only that, but I once picked one up by the antenna and held it for a short while as I watched it struggling crazily to escape when one of it's legs just shot off! It kinda freaked me out so I haven't really touched them since...anyone know anything about this?

Giving up a leg might be a survival method. I too have seen amputee crickets. Pendragon39 03:24, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Yeah an interesting thing is it just happened again a few days ago. This time I just sprayed one with Raid and watched it slowly die and it's leg just came off...it's so weird. I wonder if they grow back or anything? It seems like it just unattaches from the joint and falls, causing them no pain at all, unlike humans where if we lost a leg there'd be blood everywhere.

Sadist
Not when the darn thing has been chirping all night!

I find their chirping quite soothing :) Pendragon39 20:10, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Well this is the question i came here to find out! Ill find a cricket or two in my basement almost every day in Fall. And alot of them are missing a leg. Well the other day, i found a cricket dying (upside down, wrigling around a little) and both its back legs were off, they were both lying within half a foot from the cricket. Its like their legs will just fall off for no reason. I find them disgusting and hate em almost as much as i hate houseflies >:( -Dave p.s. their chirping isnt so relaxing when its just one of em echoing nice and loud in your furnace room when youre trying to sleep.

YOU ARE SO MEAN!!! --Cricket Boy 21:23, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
YOU ARE SO IMMATURE. Have you tried to sleep with those things existing near you? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.210.120.214 (talk) 01:33, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
I agree :( Pendragon39 21:52, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

One of my male crickets is missing a back leg, and he can't chirp. His wings buzz, but there's no sound with it. I wonder if there's any connection with his leglessness and his chirplessness. the rest of my crickets are in good health. oh and, will his lack of voice mean no chance with the ladies i wonder? quite possibly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.245.133.87 (talk) 13:03, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Chirping season

I like crickets and sometimes observe them. I notice they don't start chirping in my backyard until late July. In other areas though, such as sandy roadsides, it is common to hear chirping in early summer. I would like to know if this difference is due to habitat or species. Pendragon39 03:24, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I typed "cricket" looking for info on the insect

And I got something about some weird game they play in England. Why? I think a disambiguation page would make the most sense.

There is a disambiguation page, but cricket doesn't take us there. Ideally cricket should go to Cricket_(disambiguation) and Cricket should go to the game. Someone please fix this! Pendragon39 22:37, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
I agree. I fixed it now. Malamockq 16:18, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
Ahh great so 2 people NINE months apart think that cricket should not point to its primary usage and you take that as a concensus? Wow, I'm underwhelmed. --LiamE 00:48, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
That would be 3 people. I'm underwhelmed too. Perhaps concensus should redirect to the sport too, why let spelling or capitalization get in the way of expediency? Pendragon39 02:17, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
And perhaps "Spelling Nazi" should redirect there too. --LiamE 22:27, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How long do they live?!

Clearly a missing information.

Field crickets live at least 1 month after reaching adulthood. The time it takes for a cricket to reach adulthood may be several months, and up to a year if it undergoes diapause. Pendragon39 05:35, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion on changing Cricket from the sport to a disambiguation page

As some have suggested before, Cricket should redirect to a disambiguation page instead of to the sport cricket.

The discussion can be found here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Cricket#Requested_move. Opinions are welcome. Malamockq 19:03, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for attempting the move but it is clear from past discussions that this is strongly opposed. Pendragon39 22:25, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
It's only opposed by fans of that game. That's hardly a consensus... Malamockq 22:45, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
Yes, but they form a majority and that is usually enough to veto any change they do not like. The guidelines on disambiguations don't help, it gives priority to popularity and Google hit counts over informing the reader. Pendragon39 23:04, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
Google hits alone do not determine what "Cricket" should direct to. Logically, there would be more websites about a sport, than about an insect that no one pays too much attention to outside of academics. But most people know that a cricket is an insect or at least a small bug if nothing else. They simply do not care about it, like fans of a sport would. There's a difference between something being popular, and something commonly known and understood. In that case, both are commonly known and understood, therefore Cricket should direct to the disambiguation page. Malamockq 03:05, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
I agree, but apparently Wikipedia has decided to show results based on popularity when you click on Go and even when you select Search. They prefer to do that instead of showing a disambiguation page as the first logical step. The meanings of the word cricket are clear and substantial. IMO encyclopedias should be about conveying the meanings of words first and foremost. Until the guidelines regarding this are changed, the sports fans will simply use it as if it were made of stone and keep the status quo :( Pendragon39 03:16, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
Malamockq, you have defeated your own argument for a move. The fact is a lot of people know that cricket is a bug, but, as you correctly point out, they just don't care about it and are unlikely to look it up in an encyclopedia. On the other hand you have the masses of English speaking cricket fans around the world that care deeply about a sport and are information hungry. These sports fans vastly outnumber the entymologists and therefore there is a primary use for the word cricket. This is reflected in the nuumber of cricket articles on wikipedia, the number of google hits the sport gets on a search and pehaps more tellingly the order British/International English dictionaries and encyclopedias give to the alternate meanings. --LiamE 00:41, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
Luckily, encyclopedias do not cater to sports fans desires over factual information. The fact is, the insect is notable and equally as important as the sport, regardless of how many sports fans there are over the number of people who wish to learn more about insects. Malamockq 02:27, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
Then why does every encyclopedia and dictionary I own list the sport before the bug? Do you not accept that most people searching wikipedia for cricket are looking for the sport? --LiamE 22:11, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Chirping interrupted by changes in lighting

Mention chirping is often interrupted momentarily when nearby lights are turned on or off. Probably by lightning too. Jidanni 01:25, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

Is that a startle reflex? Crickets are good at detecting motion and know when to stop chirping. Pendragon39 15:58, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I don't remember hearing a cricket chirp during the day time.

Do they only chirp during the night?

They chirp day and night. You didn't remember to sign your postPendragon39 (talk) 22:12, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

mine chirp more when it's dark. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.245.133.87 (talk) 13:06, 19 January 2008 (UTC)