What does a cricket look like - photo and description of insect species

Crickets are one of the families of orthoptera. Its representatives love heat and moisture, so the greatest variety of species is found in Africa, the Mediterranean and South America. There are 2300 species of insects, the most common are home and field crickets. Having settled next to a person, he does not cause a negative reaction like a cockroach or a fly. The secretive cricket looks like, the photo fully conveys, and in order to listen to its trills, you should go into the field or garden in the summer.

Description and area of ​​residence

The true cricket is a typical representative of the family of Orthoptera jumping insects. His close relatives are grasshoppers and locusts. The insect has an elongated body, a large head, a gnawing mouth apparatus. Antennae long, filiform, vision well developed. Hind legs with thickened hips allow pushing away when jumping.

Elytra thick, leathery, fan-shaped with veins. Females have an ovipositor with which they cut stems to lay eggs. Few people know what a cricket looks like, but at the same time they heard its chirping at dusk. He creates his trills by friction of the elytra. The more often the vibration, the higher the sound. The special structure of the elytra makes it possible to extract sounds in a wide range.
Insects are widely distributed in Asia, Europe, North Africa and America. In Australia, they are found only in Adelaide, where they were imported from other countries. For housing, they find cracks, dig minks or hide under stones. Activity falls in the summer months, because at temperatures below +21⁰ insects become lethargic, stop eating. The love of heat made crickets seek refuge in the human home. With the onset of autumn, they move to houses, heated warehouses and industrial buildings.

What does cricket sing about?

Songs can only be heard from males. They need a sophisticated “musical instrument” to attract females and build communication with other individuals. The main theme of all trills is the invitation of the female for mating. The louder and more interesting the sound, the higher the chances of continuing the genus.

Males settle separately, on their site they allow the presence of female representatives, but will not tolerate rivals. A special chatter warns crickets about the boundaries of foreign territory. Another type of trill is fighting songs. These insects are bold and formidable warriors; they always rush into battle, protecting their borders of residence.

Interesting fact. In China, fights of specially trained crickets are arranged annually. Males are brought in a kind of arena and teased with straws, forcing them to start the fight. These fights are popular among the Chinese, winning bets are thousands of dollars. Losing insects will face a sad fate, in a fight they lose their paws and antennae. The losers are fed to birds or thrown away.

Insect nutrition

In the natural environment, crickets feed on fresh shoots of grass, leaves of the bush. Having settled on the site, and significantly increasing the population, they will harm garden crops.Adults prefer to nibble seedlings rather than weeds. Their diet is not limited to plant foods; insects need protein to grow. Small insects, corpses, or their own offspring become its source.

What does a cricket eat when it gets to home? In this case, he is omnivorous, with equal pleasure eating bread crumbs, droplets of liquid dishes and drinks, slices of vegetables and fruits. Meat or fish that fall on the floor will also be eaten by small neighbors. Manifesting the instincts of the hunter, they can catch flies or small invertebrates that end up in the house.

Many innocuous-looking insects are a source of danger, so the question often arises whether crickets bite. At the expense of night singers, you can be calm, they do not bite people. The jaws of a gnawing type are not suitable for attacking large objects, moreover, aggressiveness is manifested only to males in a foreign territory.

Life cycle

Sexual differences of insects are manifested in the presence of a chirping apparatus in males, and in ovipositor females. The size of the appendage is 10-15 mm, with its help the females lay eggs in the ground. Cricket is a type of insect with incomplete transformation. This means that its development takes place in three stages:

• egg;
• larva;
• imago.

Larvae of species with incomplete transformation have much in common with adult individuals. For their appearance, a sufficient amount of moisture and high temperature are necessary. The female mates several times and lays eggs from 2 to 4 weeks, one at a time or in groups of 2-4 pieces. In total, up to 500 of them are buried. The number of surviving masonry depends on natural factors. Once out of the egg, the larva molts for the first time. In the process of subsequent links, the number of facets in the eyes increases, the length of the antennae increases, wing beginnings develop. To become an adult, they will need 1-1.5 months. How many crickets live? The life cycle of most species takes only 3 months.

Varieties of crickets

Thousands of species of these insects have been found in nature, mainly the inhabitants of the tropics and subtropics. In hot and humid climates, large individuals are found which are bought because of their spectacular appearance. Among the numerous types of crickets, the most common were:

Field cricket

Insects lead a solitary lifestyle, they settle in meadows and fields, as well as light pine forests. Field cricket digs a hole up to 20 cm deep and 2 cm in diameter. He jealously guards his dwelling, not letting other males come to him. The body is black (rarely brown), smooth and shiny. Head round on the forehead 3 simple eyes (ocelia). Field cricket feeds on leaves, seeds, grass roots, small invertebrates. The body length of the male is 20-23 mm, the females are slightly less - 17-21 mm.

The entrance to the hole is masked by a bunch of grass. If the chatter of the male does not scare away the uninvited guest, the battle begins. In fights, crickets collide their foreheads, jump on each other, try to bite off the antennae or paw. A male without a limb is considered a lower creature, he will not succeed in fertilizing females. Field crickets have many natural enemies, so they are very shy and careful, when they hear a noise, they hide in a hole.

The underdeveloped wings do not allow the insect to fly, so it searches for food by running on the ground. Females leave the house during mating and go to search for a partner. To attract them, the males emit sonorous trills, sitting at their holes. A fertilized female lays hundreds of eggs in the ground. After a month, larvae appear to turn into a sexually mature cricket, they will have several links. With the onset of winter in burrows, the larvae hibernate, by May next year they will turn into adults.

You can meet field musicians in Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. Due to frequent droughts, the number of these insects is constantly decreasing.

Interesting fact. The hearing organs of crickets are located on the forelegs, they pick up sound waves and vibrations.To hear better, an insect raises one limb.

House cricket

This is the only species voluntarily adjacent to humans. Insects find shelter, food and a favorable climate in their homes. Previously, they settled in the warmest place - behind the stove. In modern conditions, it was replaced by central heating pipes. Insects prefer to spend the warm season outdoors, moving to houses and basements in September.

The homeland of the insect, Central Asia and North Africa, spreads to colder areas, it was allowed close proximity to people. A homemade cricket looks like a grasshopper with a flat body. Its size is 16-25 mm, the female ovipositor is 11-15 mm. The main color of the body is yellowish brown; noticeable dark spots and stripes on the back, abdomen and head. The wings are well developed, the insect actively uses them for flights. There are 3 pairs of legs, thickened hips on the hind legs help to make a long distance jump.

Interesting. The antennae of crickets are the organ of touch, their length exceeds the size of the body.

Only night trills allow people to notice the appearance of an insect in the house. Are reconciliations dangerous for humans or pets? They are completely safe - do not bite, are not poisonous, furniture and things do not spoil. The only concern is chirping in the dark. Insects feed on the remnants of human food, catch invertebrates. For reproduction they need moist places. The peak of sexual activity is observed in the summer, but the laying of eggs and hatching continues in human housing.

Having received an unexpected neighbor, people wonder how long the cricket lives in the house? The age of an imago (adult) is short, it will bother with its trills for no more than 3 months.

Interesting fact. With the appearance of crickets in the house, many signs and superstitions are associated. For the Slavs, this is a symbol of imminent marriage, recovery or improvement of well-being. It was strictly forbidden to kill an insect, otherwise an ambulance and other misfortunes awaited the person.

Stem cricket

An ordinary stem cricket or trumpeter lives in the steppes and foothills, preferring to settle in the bushes. Representatives of this species can be found in the steppe part of Russia, the Caucasus, northern Kazakhstan and southern Siberia. The color of the insect is from greenish to light brown. The body length of an adult (adult) is 9-14 mm, the size of the ovipositor is 6-8 mm. In the normal state, the wings are folded behind. The hind legs are covered with small spikes.

On a hot day, an ordinary trumpeter waits under the leaves, active trills calling the females are heard in the evening and at night. Insects are phytophages, they feed on plant foods.

Attention. With the ovipositor, females cut the stems of plants to place eggs in them. If insects in large numbers settle on the tobacco field or in the vineyard, they cause significant damage to planted crops.

Oriental trumpeter is a species found in the Far East of Russia, in Japan and China. The insect has an elongated body of light green color, a dark strip is visible on the abdomen. Elytra short and transparent. The brown tendrils are much longer than the body. The size of the tube is 11-13 mm. The female lays eggs in the stems and petioles of the leaves, the larvae appear in July.

Banana cricket

Field cricket (Gryllus assimilis) is common in Central America. His homeland is Jamaica. This is one of the largest representatives of the family. Adult individuals reach a size of 18-25 mm. In favorable conditions, they breed all year round. Individuals reach puberty in 1 month. Insects eat plant foods, invertebrates, among them there is cannibalism. With a lack of food, insects eat eggs and larvae.

Interesting fact. Males of this species chirp less than the rest, for which they have been nicknamed "silent crickets."

The rapid growth and large size made these insects the object of breeding for pet food. Crickets are a favorite part of the diet for turtles, lizards, reptiles and birds.

Grasshopper and Cricket - Similarities and Differences

Both insects belong to the same order of orthoptera.They are elongated, their heads are large, and their eyes are well developed. Males of both families have a chirping organ - wing covers. Insects have much in common in the process of reproduction, development and nutrition, but upon close examination they are difficult to confuse. What is the difference between a grasshopper and a cricket? Grasshoppers are larger in size, some species reach a size of 35 mm. Their bodies are usually greenish for camouflage in the grass. The hind legs of grasshoppers are much better developed, because they live in open spaces, they need powerful limbs for jumping.

The time of their activity also varies - crickets play music at night, and grasshoppers play during the day. Their schedule is associated with the structural features of the wings. The apparatus of grasshoppers to make sounds must be dry. They are waiting for the heat that will dry the dew from the grass.