Cricket (insect)

Gryllidae
The common black cricket, Gryllus assimilis
The common black cricket, Gryllus assimilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Superfamily: Grylloidea
Family: Gryllidae
Bolívar, 1878
Subfamilies

See Taxonomy section

Crickets, family Gryllidae (also known as "true crickets"), are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers and more closely related to katydids or bush crickets (family Tettigoniidae). They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. There are about 900 species of crickets. They tend to be nocturnal and are often confused with grasshoppers because they have a similar body structure including jumping hind legs.

Contents

Cricket chirping

Crickets do not rub their hind legs together to chirp. The left forewing of the male has a thick rib (a modified vein) which bears 50 to 300 ridges. The chirp (which only male crickets can do) is generated by raising their left forewing to a 45 degree angle and rubbing it against the upper hind edge of the right forewing, which has a thick scraper (Berenbaum 1995). This sound producing action is called stridulation and the song is species-specific.

There are four types of cricket song: The calling song attracts females and repels other males, and is fairly loud. The courting song is used when a female cricket is near, and is a very quiet song. An aggressive song is triggered by chemoreceptors on the antennae that detect the near presence of another male cricket and a copulatory song is produced for a brief period after successful deposition of sperm on the female's eggs.

Crickets chirp at different rates depending on their species and the temperature of their environment. Most species chirp at higher rates the higher the temperature is (approx. 62 chirps a minute at 13°C in one common species; each species has its own rate). The relationship between temperature and the rate of chirping is known as Dolbear's Law. In fact, according to this law, it is possible to calculate the temperature in Fahrenheit by adding 40 to the number of chirps produced in 15 seconds by the snowy tree cricket common in the United States.[1]

To hear the mating call of other crickets, a cricket has 'ears' located on its knees, just below the joint of the front legs. Their auditory sensation is mediated by tympanic membranes located in their knees.

In 1975, Dr. William H. Cade discovered that the parasitic tachinid fly Ormia ochracea is attracted to the song of the male cricket, and uses it to locate the male in order to deposit her larvae on him. It was the first example of a natural enemy that locates its host or prey using the mating signal[2]. Since then, many species of crickets have been found to be carrying the same parasitic fly, or related species. In response, a mutation leaving males unable to chirp was observed amongst a population of field crickets on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Diet and life cycle

Scanning electron micrograph of a spiracle valve - the organ that allows fresh air to pass into the cricket's respiratory system

Crickets are omnivores and scavengers feeding on organic materials, as well as decaying plant material, fungi, and some seedling plants. Crickets also have been known to eat their own dead when there is no other source of food available.

Crickets mate in late summer and lay their eggs in the fall. The eggs hatch in the spring and have been estimated to number as high as 2,000 per fertile female. Female crickets have a long needlelike egg-laying organ called an ovipositor.

Crickets are popular as a live food source for carnivorous pets like frogs, lizards, tortoises, salamanders, and spiders. Feeding crickets with nutritious food in order to pass the nutrition onto animals that eat them is known as gut loading.

Crickets are also eaten by humans in some African and Asian cultures. They are often considered a delicacy.

How to breed crickets

Breeding crickets can be quite simple. You may begin by obtaining 30-50 adult crickets from pet shops. Place them in a large cage, preferably about 15x30 inches or so. A heat lamp above the cage increases cricket growth. Most importantly, place some food and water (take a paper towel and soak it in water) in the cage. Make sure you put some obstacles in the cage (such as egg cartons, paper towel rolls, or a kleenex box) so the crickets can have more room to move around. Take the lid of a peanut butter jar (or a lid of that size) and fill it with dirt. Female crickets will lay their eggs in the dirt. Place the lid of dirt in the cage and leave it in for one day (and 1 day only, if you leave it in longer, other crickets will eat the eggs). Once a day has passed, remove the lid and place it in a separate cage. Mist the dirt with water once or twice a day. The eggs in the dirt will hatch in about a week or so. Raise these crickets the same way as described above. Raising crickets saves money in the long run. This cycle can be repeated, resulting in hundreds, even thousands of crickets.

Popular culture

Crickets are popular pets and are considered good luck in Asia, especially China where they are kept in cages (Carrera 1991). It is also common to have them as caged pets in some European countries, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula. Cricket fighting as a gambling or sports betting pastime also occurs, particularly in Asia.

The folklore and mythology surrounding crickets is extensive. [3]

The singing of crickets in the folklore of Brazil and elsewhere is sometimes taken to be a sign of impending rain, or of a financial windfall. In Brazilian history, the sudden chirping of a cricket heralded the sighting of land for the crew of captain Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, just as their water supply had run out. (Lenko and Papavero 1996). In Caraguatatuba, Brazil, a black cricket in a room is said to portend illness; a gray one, money; and a green one, hope (Lenko and Papavero 1996). In Alagoas state, northeast Brazil, a cricket announces death, thus it is killed if it chirps in a house (Araújo 1977). In the village of Capueiruçu, Bahia State, a constantly chirping cricket foretells pregnancy, but if it pauses, money is expected (K.L.G. Lima, unpublished data). The mole cricket locally known as "paquinha", "jeguinho", "cachorrinho-d'água", or "cava-chão" (genera Scapteriscus and Neocurtilla, Gryllotalpidae) is said to predict rain when it digs into the ground (Fowler 1994).

In Barbados, a loud cricket means money is coming in; hence, a cricket must not be killed or evicted if it chirps inside a house. However, another type of cricket that is less noisy forebodes illness or death. (Forde 1988) In Zambia, the Gryllotalpa africanus cricket is held to bring good fortune to anyone who sees it (Mbata 1999).

In American comedy, the sound of crickets may be used to humorously indicate a dead silence when a response or activity is expected. For example, if a comedian in a TV show tells a bad joke, instead of the audience laughing, crickets may chirp.

Similarly on political blogs, writers may use the concept of "crickets chirping" in a rhetorical sense to signal that the writer believes that he or she has made a point that a hypothetical opponent cannot answer. The space that would have been occupied by the nonexistent answer is instead occupied by the symbolic word *crickets* to symbolize this silence.

Chester Cricket is the main protagonist in the popular book The Cricket In Times Square by George Selden.

The Walt Disney corporation has used a number of notable cricket characters in their animated movies through the ages. Most of these characters represent good. For example, in the movie Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket is honored with the position of the title character's conscience. In Mulan, Cri-kee is carried in a cage as a symbol of luck, as in many Asian countries.

"Cricket" is musician slang for a harmonica. Van Morrison may be heard calling for the "cricket" in the studio version of "Bright Side of the Road", introducing the harmonica solo.

The Crickets were the band of legendary Rock n' Roll pioneer Buddy Holly.

A Lubbock, Texas baseball team in the Texas-Louisiana League were called the Lubbock Crickets, named after hometown hero Buddy Holly's band.

Taxonomy

African field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus

Subfamilies of the family Gryllidae:

In addition to the above subfamilies in the family Gryllidae, several other orthopteran groups outside of this family also may be called "crickets":

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Urban Legends Reference Pages: Cricket Chirp Thermometer
  2. ↑ Cade, W. H. 1975. Acoustically orienting parasitoids: Fly phonotaxis to cricket song. Science 190: 1312-1313.
  3. ↑ "Cricket singing means rain: semiotic meaning of insects in the district of Pedra Branca, Bahia State, northeastern Brazil" [1],

See also

External links