Cricket InformationKingdom: Animalia Crickets Grasshoppers Katydids Locusts Wetas Cricket Control Camel Crickets Cave Cricket Sand Treader Mormon Cricket Jerusalem Cricket House Cricket Field Cricket Animals and Pests General Household Pest Control Products Crickets, or "True Crickets" are related to grasshoppers but more closely related to
Katydids or bush crickets because they have slightly flattened bodies and long antennae. Male crickets are the only ones that chirp. They have ridges on their wings that they rub together that act like a comb and file to form an instrument. Their left forewing contains 50-300 teeth that are raised and angled. This wing is rubbed against the upper hind edge of the right forewing, or scraper. There are two types of songs that the male cricket produces. The calling song attracts females and repels other males and is very loud. The courting song is used when the female is near and is a very quiet song. Once courted, the mating process begins and the female lays her eggs usually during the late summer to early fall.
The camel cricket gets its name from it’s slightly humped-back and long spider-like legs. Adults don't have wings like other crickets. The greenhouse stone cricket is the main species of camel crickets that can become a pest when indoors. They are frequently found around greenhouses.
The cave cricket gets its name because it is commonly found in cool, damp places like caves, wells, rotten logs, stumps and hollow trees, under damp leaves and stones. They have large hind legs, and a long slender antenna. They are brownish in color and hump-backed. They can grow up to 2 inches and their body is translucent when they are young.
The sand treader is a cricket that is found in sand dunes and is very active at night.
They spend their day burrowed in the sand to help minimize water loss.
Sand Treaders are pale colored and their legs have strong bristles attached to
aid in digging.
The Mormon cricket is actually a shield-backed katydid and not a cricket at all. They can grow up to three inches in length and live in the western portions of North America in sagebrush. These flightless insects can travel up to two kilometers during the day in its swarming phase.
The Jerusalem cricket is a flightless insect native to the western United States along the Pacific coast and south to Mexico. They are also known as potato bugs or "old baldheaded man" because of its human like head. Despite the name, this insect do not prefer potatoes and are not true crickets or true bugs. They are similar to true crickets in that each species produces a different mating song by drumming their abdomen on the ground. They also create audible sounds by rubbing its hind legs against its abdomen creating a hissing noise designed to frighten predators. The Jerusalem cricket doesn't have ears so it relies on vibrations. They are not venomous, but can emit a foul smell and can bite. The Jerusalem cricket has black and orange bands around its body.
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