Description and photos of crickets

Singing crickets since ancient times it was associated with home and comfort, and insects themselves never caused unpleasant sensations, many times they became heroes of children's fairy tales and cartoons. Information about how a cricket looks like, where it lives and what is interesting, will appeal to all inquisitive readers.

Description and types

Crickets are close relatives of grasshoppers and belong to the group of long-winged orthopteran insects. Their name comes from the Greek word "singer".

Entomological scientists have identified several families and varieties of crickets:

• real - a family that is divided into 3 types: brownies, field and stem Far East;
• ant, also called anteraceae.

Brownie cricket

The home cricket is an insect whose homeland is considered to be the Far East and North Africa, where they have long lived alongside people: in residential and industrial buildings. During the warmer months, crickets move closer to nature, and with the onset of cold weather they again return closer to heat. human housing. In the field, they dig minks up to 30 cm deep, and when they go hunting or patrolling the area they close it with a tuft of grass.

As can be seen in the photo of the cricket of the brownie, it is an insect of gray-yellow color, adorned with motley and brown spots on the body and three stripes on the egg-shaped head, the length of an adult individual is 15-25 mm. The eyes are located on both sides of the head. There are long whiskers in front, larger in size than the insect itself, they serve as an organ of touch.The body is covered with a special chitinous shell that protects against external influences and reduces the loss of moisture in the body.

Brownie cricket

This type of crickets has wings that help them to fly to the right place, when folded they look like elongated tails. However, these insects cannot really fly. The limbs have 3 pairs: the hind ones are stronger - designed for jumping, the front 2 pairs - serve as auditory organs.

Only males can make sounds and “sing”, which they successfully use to attract the attention of females and continue the race. The sound device of crickets consists of a stridulatory vein, which plays the role of a bow when rubbing against the left wing of the insect.

There are 3 types of beeps: when searching for females, while courting, and “hostile” sounds to scare other candidates for the role of suitor.

Interesting!

Many ancient beliefs say that if a cricket wound up in a house, it brings good luck and happiness, protects its inhabitants from evil, disease, and “promises” easy childbirth to pregnant women. Therefore, it is not customary to get rid of such “vocalists” as unwanted guests.However, not all owners like the arias of insects that interfere with sleep. Therefore, people prefer get rid of singing crickets who settled in the apartment.

Unlike domestic insects, settling in the garden and breeding in large numbers, crickets can become pests, nibbling vegetables, especially melons.

Field cricket: photo and description

Field cricket

Insects of this species are common in Southern and Central Europe, Asia Minor and West Asia, and North Africa. Habitats - well-lit fields and meadows, pine forests, where they make holes up to 20 cm deep.

The size of a field cricket is larger compared to other species: females - 17-22 mm, males - slightly larger (up to 26 mm). Body color - black with glitter, sometimes brown, decorated with orange spots. The head is rounded with two antennae-antennae, on the forehead there are 3 ozellia (simple eyes).

Insects are omnivorous, but prefer to eat the leaves and roots of herbaceous plants, occasionally they catch small representatives of the fauna or eat their corpses.

Stellar crickets

Stellar crickets

The Far Eastern or stem species belongs to the family of true crickets, another name is Eastern Trumpeter.Insects have a light green elongated body, up to 13 mm long, and a black stripe runs along the bottom of the abdomen.

They received their first name for laying eggs in females in the stems or petioles of plants, in each laying - 2-4 pieces. Larvae appear from eggs in the middle of summer, they are smaller in size compared to adults, the wings are present in the form of buds. In August-September, they turn into imago.

The second of the names indicates where the cricket lives: it lives in the Far East of Russia, as well as in China and Japan.

Ants

The smallest in size - ant crickets - reach 3-5 mm, they have no wings, in appearance they look like cockroach nymphs. They are not able to make any sounds and cannot even hear them.

This family lives in South America, where it was discovered by an entomologist from Switzerland A. de Saussure at the end of the 19th century. Now this type is also found in Europe. Their place of residence is associated with the nests of ants: the larvae and adults hibernate in the anthill, the development cycle of the larvae of eggs lasts 24 months. and consists of 5 stages.

Ants

How many live crickets, favorite habitats

The habitat of such insects covers almost all countries of Europe, North Africa and Asia, as well as the south of Australia. Later, they appeared in America, where they were brought by immigrants from European countries.

The life span of a home cricket is 1.5–3 months, a field one — up to 15 (including hibernation), and in tropical insects it can reach 7 months.

Homemade crickets prefer to live close to people's housing. They belong to omnivorous insects that are able to eat both vegetable and animal food. Harvesting food for themselves, they hunt small invertebrates and are able to eat other smaller insects.

Interesting!

Crickets in some situations can attack their brethren, eating small relatives, which is widespread in nature and is called cannibalism.

The optimal temperature for a cricket's life is no less than + 20ºС, when it decreases, the insect leads a sedentary lifestyle, lives without food (even the larvae stop developing), and when it drops to minus - hibernates.

They often settle not only in houses, but also in old buildings, they love high humidity, they are looking for cracks and rugs for living.Within cities, they are found on the upper floors of apartment buildings, sometimes even a lonely cricket settles on the balcony, but still prefer wet and warm basements or boiler rooms.

On a note!

In the countries of the East, the local population considers the “singing” of crickets as a symbol of peace and comfort: in Japan and China, some lovers keep them as pets in small cages especially for listening to the “songs”. In North America, these insects are used as bait for fishing, and in Asian countries they are used as food.

Breeding crickets

Breeding crickets

Crickets belong to polygamous insects, that is, one male occupies a certain territory, where several females live, forming a small harem. In the attempt of strangers, they will definitely sort things out by fighting, in which they bite off each other's legs or mustaches, beat their heads. Having won the victory, the male often eats the opponent.

Interesting!

Such a spectacle attracts thrill-seekers, who in some countries even arrange competitions and cricket battles. And for insects preparing for battle, a special diet was invented, and before starting to stimulate aggression, males meet with females.

The process of reproduction can occur all year round, but the maximum sexual activity they manifest in the summer. Mating occurs usually in the burrow, where the female comes after hearing the groom “wailing”.

A few days after fertilization, the female lays eggs in a hole cooked in the ground, piercing the soil with a long egg-laying. The number of eggs depends on the temperature: the higher it is, the more. Usually it is in the range of 50-200 pcs., In the southern climate, the clutch consists of 500-600 eggs. In shape, they resemble small white bananas.

After 1-12 weeks, depending on the temperature, nymphs appear, which are hidden in the burrow or under the stones for the first days, the pupal stage is absent. The larvae are usually wingless and smaller, otherwise they look like imagoes. The cricket larva in the process of growth molts 9-11 times, and only 1.5 months later. becomes sexually mature. After each change of shell, the insect looks like a white cricket with unfolded wings.

On a note!

The biggest cricket was discovered by the caretaker of one of the parks in New Zealand, who managed to feed him carrots. The size of the insect was 18 cm long.

Growing crickets at home

Breeding crickets at home

In recent years, the breeding of many insect insect species in an apartment has become popular. Crickets easily take root at home, and their breeding is not difficult. The purpose of their rearing is often the preparation of food for other pets: lizards, amphibians, birds or reptiles, which they feed on insects.

The insectarium is made of glass or plastic, the bottom is covered with a mixture of peat and sand, the installation of incandescent lamps for lighting and heating, ventilation is obligatory, the optimum humidity is no more than 40%. In one capacity you can plant no more than 3 males and 15 females.

In insectarium, they are fed with oatmeal, the remains of vegetables and fruits, sometimes they give cat food or baby food, bread crumbs and corn sticks as a dessert, apples and carrots in ground form in small portions.

Be sure to present in the diet of plant foods: tops from vegetables and lettuce, burdock leaves. They get protein from the following feed: fish meal, chicken eggs or gammarus.

Water is necessary for the normal development of such insects, so a moistened sponge is put into the container instead of a drinker.

The largest insectarium is located in the Moscow Zoo, where crickets are successfully bred for food for some animals and birds.