Gryllidae
The common black cricket, Gryllus assimilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Orthoptera Suborder: Ensifera Superfamily: Grylloidea Family: Gryllidae Bolívar, 1878
Subfamilies
See Taxonomy section

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). Arthropods are Animals belonging to the Phylum Arthropoda (from Greek ἄρθρον arthron, " Joint " Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described The Orthoptera (from the Greek ορθός orthos = "straight" and πτεрόν pteron = "wing" are an order of Insects Ensifera is a suborder of the order Orthoptera, comprising Insects commonly known as crickets katydids and bush crickets. Ignacio Bolívar y Urrutia ( Madrid, 1850 &ndash Mexico, 1944was a Spanish naturalist and Entomologist, and one of the Founding Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described Grasshoppers are Insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. The family Tettigoniidae, known in American English as katydids and in British English as bush-crickets, contains more than 6400 They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. Antennae (singular antenna) are paired Appendages connected to the front-most segments of Arthropods In Crustaceans they are There are about 900 species of crickets. In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. They tend to be nocturnal and are often confused with grasshoppers because they have a similar body structure including jumping hind legs. As an Animal behavior, nocturnality describes sleeping during the Daytime and being active at Night - the opposite of the diurnal Grasshoppers are Insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera.

Cricket chirping

Crickets are known for their chirp (which only male crickets can do; male wings have ridges or "teeth" that act like a "comb and file" instrument). The left forewing has a thick rib (a modified vein) which bears 50 to 300 ridges. The chirp 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 (Berenbaum 1995). Insect wings are outgrowths of the Insect Exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. This sound producing action is called "stridulation" and the song is species-specific. Stridulation is the act of producing Sound by rubbing together certain body parts In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. Hence, crickets do not rub their hind legs together as is commonly believed.

There are two types of cricket songs: a calling song and a courting song. The calling song attracts females and repels other males, and is fairly loud. The courting song is used when a female cricket is near, and is a very quiet song.

Crickets chirp at different rates depending on their species and the temperature of their environment. Stridulation is the act of producing Sound by rubbing together certain body parts See also Natural environment The '''biophysical''' environment is the symbiosis between the physical environment and the Biological Most species chirp at higher rates the higher the temperature is (approx. 60 chirps a minute at 13°C in one common species; each species has its own rate). The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. The relationship between temperature and the rate of chirping is known as Dolbear's Law. Dolbear's Law states the relationship between the air Temperature and the rate at which Snowy Tree Crickets Oecanthus fultoni, chirp In fact, according to this law, it is possible to calculate the temperature in Fahrenheit by adding 40 to the number of chirps produced in 15 seconds by the snowy tree cricket common in the United States. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 ^[1]

To hear the mating call of other crickets, a cricket has ears located on its knees, just below the joint of the front legs.

In 1970, Dr. William H. Cade discovered that the parasitic tachinid fly Ormia ochracea is attracted to the song of the male cricket, and uses it to locate the male in order to deposit her larvae on him. Dr William H Cade ( Bill Cade) is a biologist and the President of the University of Lethbridge. Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between Organisms of different Species. Tachinidae is a large and rather variable family of true flies within the Insect order Diptera with more than 8200 known species and many more to be discovered True flies are Insects of the Order Diptera ( Greek: di = two and pteron = wing possessing a single pair of Ormia ochracea is a small yellow Fly, a Parasite of crickets It is notable because of its exceptionally good hearing A larva ( Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of Animal with indirect development, undergoing Metamorphosis (for example It was the first example of a natural enemy that locates its host or prey using the mating signal. Since then, many species of crickets have been found to be carrying the same parasitic fly, or related species.

Diet and life cycle

Scanning electron micrograph of a spiracle valve - the organ that allows fresh air to pass into the cricket's respiratory system

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 mate in late summer and lay their eggs in the fall. The eggs hatch in the spring and have been estimated to number as high as 2,000 per fertile female. Female crickets have a long needlelike egg-laying organ (ovipositor). The ovipositor is an organ used by some of the Animals for Oviposition, i

Crickets are popular as a live food source for carnivorous pets like frogs, lizards, salamanders, and spiders. This article is about the block cipher algorithm For the ultrafast laser pulse measurement technique see Frequency-resolved optical gating. Lizards are a large and widespread group of Reptiles of the order Squamata, with nearly 5000 species and ranging across all continents except Salamander (orig from Persian: sām, "fire" and andarūn, "within" is the common name for a group of approximately 500 Species Spiders are Predatory Invertebrate Animals that have two body segments, eight legs no chewing mouth parts and no wings Feeding crickets with nutritious food in order to pass the nutrition onto animals that eat them is known as gut loading. Gut loading is the process by which an Animal 's Prey is raised and fed nutritious Foods with the intention of passing those nutrients to the animal for which

Crickets are also eaten by humans in some African and Asian cultures. They are often considered a delicacy.

Popular culture

Crickets are popular pets and are considered good luck in Asia, especially China where they are kept in cages (Carrera 1991). China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National It is also common to have them as caged pets in some European countries, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula. The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra Cricket fighting as a gambling or sports betting pastime also occurs, particularly in Macau. Cricket fighting is a Bloodsport involving the Fighting of Crickets. Sports betting is the general activity of predicting Sports results by making a wager on the outcome of a sporting event For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics.

The folklore and mythology surrounding crickets is extensive. ^[2]

The singing of crickets in the folklore of Brazil and elsewhere is sometimes taken to be a sign of impending rain, or of a financial windfall. In Brazilian history, the sudden chirping of a cricket heralded the sighting of land for the crew of captain Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, just as their water supply had run out. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca ( Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, ca (Lenko and Papavero 1996). In Caraguatatuba, Brazil, a black cricket in a room is said to portend illness; a gray one, money; and a green one, hope (Lenko and Papavero 1996). Caraguatatuba, widely known by its abbreviation Caraguá, is a city in the northeastern state of São Paulo in Brazil. Hope is a Belief in a positive outcome related to events and Circumstances in one's life In Alagoas state, northeast Brazil, a cricket announces death, thus it is killed if it chirps in a house (Araújo 1977). Alagoas (AL (alaˈgoajs is a small state in northeastern Brazil lying between the states of Pernambuco and Sergipe; touching the state In the village of Capueiruçu, Bahia State, a constantly chirping cricket foretells pregnancy, but if it pauses, money is expected (K. Bahia (baˈia is one of the 26 States of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast L. G. Lima, unpublished data). The mole cricket locally known as "paquinha", "jeguinho", "cachorrinho-d'água", or "cava-chão" (genera Scapteriscus and Neocurtilla, Gryllotalpidae) is said to predict rain when it digs into the ground (Fowler 1994). The mole crickets compose family Gryllotalpidae, of thick-bodied Insects about 3-5 cm (1-2 inches long with large beady eyes and shovel-like

In Barbados, a loud cricket means money is coming in; hence, a cricket must not be killed or evicted if it chirps inside a house. Barbados ( Portuguese word for bearded-ones, bɑrˈbeɪdoʊz -dɒs situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Island nation However, another type of cricket that is less noisy forebodes illness or death. (Forde 1988) In Zambia, the Gryllotalpa africanus cricket is held to bring good fortune to anyone who sees it (Mbata 1999). The Republic of Zambia (ˈzæmbɪə is a Landlocked country in Southern Africa.

In English-speaking comedy, the sound of crickets may be used to humorously indicate a dead silence when a response or activity is expected. For example, if a comedian in a TV show tells a bad joke, instead of the audience laughing, crickets may chirp.

Similarly on political blogs, writers may use the concept of "crickets chirping" in a rhetorical sense to signal that the writer believes that he or she has made a point that a hypothetical opponent cannot answer. A blog (a contraction of the term " Web log " is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary descriptions of Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice The space that would have been occupied by the nonexistent answer is instead occupied by the symbolic word *crickets* to symbolize this silence.

The Disney corporation has used a number of notable cricket characters in their animated movies through the ages. Most of these characters represent good. For example, in the movie Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket is honored with the position of the title character's conscience. Pinocchio is the second Animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics. Jiminy Cricket is the Walt Disney version of " The Talking Cricket " ( Italian: Il Grillo Parlante) a Fictional character created by In Mulan, Cri-kee is carried in a cage as a symbol of luck, as in many Asian countries. Mulan is a 1998 Animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 19 1998

The Crickets were the band of legendary Rock n' Roll pioneer Buddy Holly. The Crickets were a rock band from Lubbock Texas, formed by Singer / Songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holley (September 7 1936 – February 3 1959 was an American Singer-songwriter and a pioneer of Rock and roll.

A Lubbock, Texas baseball team in the Texas-Louisiana League were called the Lubbock Crickets, named after hometown hero Buddy Holly's band. The Central Baseball League, formerly the Texas-Louisiana League, was a minor league whose member teams were independent of any Major The Lubbock Crickets were a Minor league baseball team that played in Lubbock, Texas

Taxonomy

African field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus

Subfamilies of the family Gryllidae:

• Eneopterinae —
• Gryllinae — common or field crickets; brown or black; despite the name, some of them enter houses (e. Field crickets are Insects of order Orthoptera. These crickets are in Subfamily Gryllinae of family Gryllidae. g. Acheta domesticus, the house cricket)
• Nemobiinae — ground crickets
• Oecanthinae — tree crickets; usually green with broad, transparent wings; frequent trees and shrubs. Acheta domesticus ( house cricket) is a cricket native to Europe   Tree crickets are Insects of order Orthoptera. These crickets are in the Subfamily Oecanthinae of the family
• Phalangopsinae
• Podoscirtinae — anomalous crickets
• Pteroplistinae
• Trigonidiinae — sword-tail crickets

In addition to the above subfamilies in the family Gryllidae, several other orthopteran groups outside of this family also may be called "crickets":

• Mogoplistidae — scaly crickets
• Myrmecophilidae — ant crickets
• Mole crickets
• Tettigoniidae - katydids or bush crickets
• Cave crickets (also called camel crickets)
• Sand crickets
• Mormon crickets
• Weta crickets
• Jerusalem crickets
• Parktown prawns

Australian brown field cricket

Footnotes

1. ^ Urban Legends Reference Pages: Cricket Chirp Thermometer
2. ^ "Cricket singing means rain: semiotic meaning of insects in the district of Pedra Branca, Bahia State, northeastern Brazil" [1],

See also

• Insect fighting
• Nematomorpha
• G. W. Pierce

External links

• Intro on house crickets
• [2]
• Singing Insects of North America An online field guide