Critter Catalog

What do they look like?

Crickets are medium-sized to large insects. Like their relatives the grasshoppers and katydids, they have chewing mouthparts, and their back legs are larger and stronger than than the other two pair. They have rounded heads, antennae that are long and thin, and their wings bend down on the sides of their body. Unlike katydids, crickets often look flat, or at least the top of their body is flattened. Most crickets are brown, but some are black and some tree crickets are green with whitish wings. Most male crickets chirp by rubbing their front wings together, their wings have special structures for this. Both males and females have ears, but they are on their legs! They are smooth round structures on their lower legs. Female crickets have a thin round tube on the end of their abdomen that they use to lay their eggs. This structure is a called an ovipositor. Female katydids have an ovipositor too, but it is flattened, while the crickets' ovipositor is round.

• Other Physical Features
• ectothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike
• female larger

Where do they live?

Crickets are found all around the world. There are over 120 species in the United States, and at least 14 are found in southeastern Michigan.

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • native
• palearctic
  • native
• oriental
  • native
• ethiopian
  • native
• neotropical
  • native
• australian
  • native
• oceanic islands
  • native

What kind of habitat do they need?

Crickets are found on the soil, hiding under dead plants or on live plants. They only occur where there is plant material to eat, and they are most diverse and abundant in humid areas with lots of plants.

• These animals are found in the following types of habitat
• temperate
• tropical
• polar

• Terrestrial Biomes
• taiga
• desert or dune
• chaparral
• forest
• rainforest
• scrub forest
• mountains

• Wetlands
• marsh
• swamp

How do they grow?

Crickets have incomplete metamorphosis. The young crickets that hatch from eggs look a lot like adults, though they don't have wings. They molt as they grow, and stop growing once they become adults. Only adults have wings. Most cricket species survive the winter in the egg stage, but some survive as nymphs (immature) or adults.

• Development - Life Cycle
• metamorphosis

How long do they live?

Most crickets can live for a year or more, but usually can't survive more than one winter.

How do they behave?

Male crickets often choose particular locations to call from so they get the best sound they can. They defend these places from other males. Like all insects, crickets are affected by the temperature. They are more active and chirp faster and louder on a warm night than on a cold one.

• Key Behaviors
• nocturnal
• motile
• sedentary
• solitary
• territorial

How do they communicate with each other?

Crickets communicate mainly by sound, scent, and touch. They can see, but not well. Males sometime have chirping "duels", each one trying to sound better for potential mates. Some small species of crickets don't chirp, and use scent and touch to find each other and communicate.

What do they eat?

Many crickets are omnivores: they eat fruit, nectar, seeds, small insects, some leaves, and will even nibble on dead larger animals.

• Primary Diet
• carnivore
  • eats non-insect arthropods
• herbivore
• omnivore

What eats them and how do they avoid being eaten?

Crickets hide in the daytime, and a very alert to predators. They hope and run fast to get away if they need to.

• Known Predators

  • any insect-eating birds
  • shrews
  • mice
  • rats
  • bats
  • frogs
  • toads
  • salamanders
  • small snakes
  • lizards
  • spiders
  • mantids
  • wasps
  • ants
  • ground beetles

Do they cause problems?

Crickets can sometimes be an agricultural pest, eating seeds or crops, but this is rare. Once in a while they get in someone's house, and are annoying, but on the whole crickets are not major pests.

• Ways that these animals might be a problem for humans
• crop pest
• household pest

How do they interact with us?

Crickets are not too important in economic terms. In some countries they are popular pets, and many people like to hear them chirping at night.

Are they endangered?

Crickets are not generally considered endangered.

• IUCN Red List [Link]

  Not Evaluated