Crickets at home and in the garden: what they look like and what they eat. Field cricket A song that prolongs life
The field cricket (lat. Gryllus campestris) has remarkable vocal talents. The loud singing of males can be heard in the steppe at a distance of up to 200 m. It consists of 2-6 syllables of different tones, performed at certain intervals. Females are less vocal, their melodies are simpler and quieter, and do not differ in particular variety.
Due to the destruction of the natural habitat and the massive use of insecticides in agriculture in recent decades, the field cricket is in danger of extinction. Most European countries have government programs for its protection.
Spreading
Its habitat occupies most of Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa. On the Mediterranean coast, the species often coexists with the two-spotted cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus). It is distributed in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Ukraine, as well as in the southwestern regions of Russia.
The insect prefers to settle in dry lowlands and plains with grassy vegetation, less often in sparse forests with an abundance of sunny edges. In hilly areas, they prefer well-warmed areas of the hills. In the mountains it is usually found at altitudes up to 1200 m above sea level where there is loose soil.
Individuals living in the steppe are larger in size than their fellow tribesmen in other biotopes.
Behavior
The field cricket leads a solitary lifestyle. He builds an inclined underground shelter 10-20 cm deep and about 2 cm in diameter in soft soil under grass. At the entrance to it, a small area is carefully cleared of blades of grass, debris and stones. It serves as a kind of platform for the male to attract females and an arena for fighting competitors.
The owner fiercely defends his territory from any encroachment. The rivals pounce on each other, bite mercilessly, push with their paws and beat the enemy with their long antennae. The fight continues until one of the duelists runs away from the battlefield. Otherwise, the loser may be eaten by the proud winner.
When predators appear, the insect immediately hides in a hole. It runs fast, but cannot fly at all, unlike (Acheta domesticus).
Representatives of this species are omnivores and are not too picky in choosing food.
The daily diet is dominated by food of plant origin, mainly leaves and roots of various plants. To a lesser extent, small invertebrate animals, including dead ones, are eaten.
Reproduction
The field cricket exhibits peak activity in late spring and early summer from May to July. During this period, on warm evenings and nights, males stage long concerts. They often begin as early as 4:00 pm in both hot and cloudy weather, continuing until 4:00 am. Performances are canceled only when it rains.
The singing male displays roulades directly at the entrance to his shelter and quickly hides in it at the slightest danger. When a female, fascinated by his talent, approaches the singer, the happy insects begin to exchange gentle touches of their antennae.
After pleasantries are exchanged, mating occurs. After its completion, the male expresses the feelings that have washed over him with rollicking singing over the next two hours, and then goes on a well-deserved rest.
The fertilized female independently digs a small hole and lays 20-40 eggs in it. During the season, she can lay up to hundreds of eggs. No one is guarding the masonry.
The larvae hatch after 2-3 weeks.
They live under stones or under the top layer of soil, feeding on roots and fallen leaves. In the fall, each larva, using its mouthparts, builds its own underground shelter, where it remains to spend the winter until spring arrives. In April, overwintered nymphs undergo the last eleventh moult and turn into adults.
Description
The body length of sexually mature individuals is 20-26 mm. Females are slightly smaller than males, but have an ovipositor 8-12 mm long. Males are colored more contrastingly.
The color is black, sometimes brown-black with a characteristic matte sheen. The body has a cylindrical shape. Legs are well developed. The spherical head is colored deep black and is large compared to the rest of the body. The elytra are shorter than the abdomen. The hind wings may be longer than the elytra.
On the forehead there are thin black or brownish antennae up to 20 mm long. Prothorax almost square. The forewings are brown or blackish with black streaks, and yellowish at the base.
The lifespan of an adult field cricket is about 3 months.
- Class: Insecta = Insects
- Order: Orthoptera = Orthoptera
- Family: Gryllidae = True crickets
Genus: Gryllus = Crickets
FIELD CRICKET (Gryllus campestris)
The field cricket is widespread in the central and southern parts of Europe, Central Asia and North Africa. This is one of the largest species, 2-2.6 cm long. It is black with brown elytra, at the base of which there is one orange spot; The lower thighs of the hind legs are bright red. In the south, its chirping can be heard already at the beginning of summer. A singing male sits at the entrance to his burrow; if disturbed, he immediately hides in it. The mink is an inclined passage, no wider than a finger and about a finger long. The entrance to the burrow is closed by a tuft of grass. If another male approaches the mink, a fight begins between them. Both rush at each other, hit their thick heads, and each tries to bite his opponent. The defeated opponent is eaten by the winner, despite the fact that the field cricket usually feeds on plant foods.
The male's chirping attracts the female. When mating, the male suspends a spermatophore from the female’s abdomen, which is very similar to the spermatophore of grasshoppers, but differs in the absence of spermatophylax. A few days after mating, the female begins to lay eggs, for which she immerses the ovipositor in the ground, holding it completely vertically. One female can lay up to 500-600 eggs. After about a month, young crickets hatch from them, very similar to adults and differing mainly in their small size and lack of wings. After the second moult, they begin to dig small holes; One or two more molts occur before winter begins. The last molt, after which an adult cricket is formed, occurs in the spring, around May.
HOUSE CRICKET (Achets domestica)
It is small in size, 1.6-2 cm long, straw-fawn with brown stripes. During the day, it hides in crevices and crawls out of these shelters for the most part only at night in search of food, consisting of various waste of plant origin. Males chirp in the evening and at night. The development of the house cricket takes place throughout the year. Apparently, it does not have a clear timing of the egg-laying period to any specific season, since at any time of the year one can find different stages of its development. Outside human settlements, in the wild, the house cricket is found only in deserts.
House cricket- This is the most famous representative of the family. He settles with a person in his houses, buildings, barns, i.e. belongs to the category of synanthropic - living together with people. In the wild, the cricket lives in the deserts of Eurasia, however, accompanying humans, it has spread throughout the world. It is about him that the saying “Every cricket knows its nest” is written. The wise old cricket tried to teach wisdom to Pinocchio, the hero of Alexei Tolstoy's fairy tale. The house cricket is brown in color, body length is 16-20 mm. Females have an ovipositor 11-15 mm long. During the day, the house cricket hides in various shelters, and at night it comes out in search of food - leftovers and waste of plant origin. They were especially common and in large quantities in old houses in the kitchens, where it was warm from stoves and fireplaces and food could always be found. In modern multi-storey buildings, crickets sometimes settle in the thermal insulation surrounding heating and hot water pipes, and then in the evenings and at night you can often hear the monotonous and melancholy singing of males: “kri-kri, kri-kri.” Females lay eggs in shelters. There is no clear timing of oviposition to any specific season, so both larvae and adult crickets can be found at any time of the year. This species takes root well in captivity and is easy to breed in insectariums. The sound apparatus of crickets is located on the elytra. It is very simple and consists of a serrated bow and a trembling film. Both elytra have the same structure. The song of a cricket can be heard at a distance of almost 100 meters.
Cricket– a frequent hero of fairy tales for children. This insect, perhaps the only one that does not cause hostility when it settles at home.
People treat him with sympathy and curiosity; his chirping is considered one of the symbols of home comfort and peace. In Japan and China, this insect is especially revered and is even kept in small cages in their homes to listen to its songs. In the North it is used as bait for fishing, and in Asia it is eaten. So who is this cricket? Where does these melodic sounds come from and do they bring benefit or harm?
Cricket habitat
Crickets are a species of Orthoptera from the cricket family. They are distributed everywhere, but some species are native to the Far East and North Africa.
With the onset of cold weather, crickets tend to move into people's homes.
Europe, North America, South Australia are the main habitats of these insects. The subtropics and tropics, as well as the southern regions of our country, have become home to crickets. A group of Orthoptera appeared on Earth about 300 million years ago. There are about 3,700 species of crickets in the world. There are 30-40 species living in Russia.
Crickets live in the open air in warm weather; when it gets colder, they move closer to human homes and settle in houses, farms, and heating plants. House crickets are common wherever people live. They love warmth, and often live behind the stove in houses.
Although they brought a lot of trouble with their nightly chirping, people did not always get rid of unwanted guests, since according to many signs they promise happiness, good luck, protection from evil forces, recovery from illness, and easy delivery of a healthy baby to pregnant women. Therefore, these home guardians often remain untouched in their warm corners.
Crickets feel most comfortable in old buildings, where there is high humidity, a lot of old rugs and enough cracks for living. But even during repairs and complete reconstruction of the house, the insect can remain and live in an apartment building on the top floor.
The main thing is to be warm and have enough food. But most often in cities they live in damp and warm basements. In nature, crickets dig sloping holes for themselves to a depth of 10-30 cm and 1.5-2 cm in width. At night they almost always sit near the house and chirp. If they go out to eat or patrol the territory, then the mink is plugged with a small bunch of grass.
Features of cricket
The main feature of this insect is its ability to chirp. Only males who use their vocal abilities in the interests of procreation are capable of this.
The familiar sound of a cricket is a kind of “serenade” for the female
First, the cricket lures the female, indicating its readiness to mate. Then he sings serenades to her, this is the period of courtship. Well, with the third type of signal, male crickets drive away competitors.
The sound is produced by rubbing the teeth of one elytra against the chirping cord of the other. The elytra rise and by their trembling form sharp vibrating movements, which are the source of sound.
Externally, crickets are similar to, but larger. The largest species living in our country is the field cricket, 2-2.6 cm in size, black with orange spots on the elytra and orange thighs.
The entire body of the insect is covered with a chitinous shell, which protects it from damage and reduces moisture loss. There are domestic, field and tree crickets, which differ in appearance. But everyone's songs are equally good.
Cricket lifestyle
All crickets require warmth to live. They rarely settle in apartments, since in the spring and autumn the heating is turned off, and the apartment becomes cold for these insects. Therefore, they prefer to choose their home in stores, at heating units, in bakeries, and boiler rooms.
It is almost impossible to see a cricket during the day, since its activity occurs at night. During daylight hours, they sit in crevices and secluded dark corners, and only at night can they be detected by sound.
There is a sign that if a cricket appears at home, it is good
Adult males control their territory, making daily rounds and checking it for the presence of rivals. If a stranger gets in the way, the crickets will inevitably fight. During a fight, they try to bite off each other's paws and antennae, and hit their thick heads. The winner may even eat the loser.
This spectacle is quite exciting to watch, so in some countries they even organize cricket fights. They have developed a special diet for fighting insects, cold medicines, and provide them with meetings with females to maintain morale.
Cricket nutrition
Crickets feed on different “products”, depending on their habitat. In nature, they eat plant foods, and if they live near a person, they feed on leftovers from his table.
Especially liquids. In addition, the house cricket can eat invertebrates, corpse tissue and can be classified as cannibals - adult individuals can eat clutches and young larvae.
Sometimes crickets are specially raised at home, for the sake of their songs or as food for certain types of animals (amphibians, and other reptiles, as well as birds). Then they are fed with leftover fruits, vegetables, cat food, dry baby food, oatmeal, bread crumbs, and corn sticks.
Be sure to give plant food: burdock leaves, lettuce and tops of garden plants. Crickets also need protein, which they can get from fish meal and egg white. But such food should be given in moderation; insects should not be overfed, otherwise their chitinous coverings may become limp and molting will become more difficult.
Carrots, apples, cabbage are given grated on a coarse grater, little by little. Water is also necessary for insects, and if you breed crickets, you need to provide them with liquid. It is better not to place the drinking bowl in the insectarium, but to put a sponge soaked in water there. One of the large insectariums is located on the territory of the Moscow Zoo, where crickets are bred to feed various animals.
Cricket breeding
Each cricket’s territory is home to several females, who come to its burrow attracted by its song. A courtship dance and mating takes place, a few days after which the female lays eggs. They have a long ovipositor; the female uses it to pierce the soil to lay eggs there.
Lays 50-150 eggs per season. But if the conditions are favorable, the air temperature is about 30Cº, then the female lays up to 700 eggs. The eggs are white and shaped like a banana. House crickets can lay one egg at a time or in groups in different crevices.
Then, depending on the temperature, after 1-12 weeks, larvae - nymphs - are born. These larvae will go through 9-11 stages of development. At first, young individuals try to stay together, hiding from enemies under stones and in earthen burrows. After the third molt, the crickets become older and spread around the area in order to dig their own burrows. When cold weather sets in, the mink is made deeper to survive the winter.
Usually the temperature underground is not lower than +0Cº, and if minus happens, the cricket goes into hibernation. With the onset of warm May days, the insects come out and molt for the last time. After molting, they look very funny, with their white wings not straightened and not dried out. Adults live for about 1.5 months. Tropical species live 6-7 months.
