Cricket 40D0031753

Cricket (family Gryllidae)

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.

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. This sound producing action is called "stridulation" and the song is species-specific.

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.

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 are popular as a live food source for carnivorous pets like frogs, lizards, 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.

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