Studying Crickets

Before they hid away for the winter, we caught six lizards and three salamanders and two tree frogs. We wanted to be able to watch them over the cold months when nothing would be out. We set up a lighted terrarium in a special spot in the house and made a nice place for them to live. But what were we going to feed them all winter?

In November I got a container and went out to get crickets. It was warm out that day, so I caught a good many black field crickets. 

I found a container and put some cardboard egg carton pieces in it.  This gave them lots of places to hide. 

I found a little dish, filled it with dirt, and put it in the corner. This would give the crickets a place to lay their eggs. A female cricket can lay up to seven hundred eggs in a year! That is a mess of babies! The crickets I caught have not laid their eggs yet, but when they do there will be lots of nymphs.

Black field crickets can make a chirping sound using their wings. Both sets of wings are rough, and by rubbing them together, or rubbing their back legs on their wings, they make their pretty noise. Their eardrums are on their front legs behind their knee, so they can hear the sounds other crickets make. I like the sound they make; it sounds pretty. Our crickets have not made any chirping sounds yet because they are young ones.

I feed the crickets every two to three days. The lizards like crickets because they are full of vitamins. It is exciting to watch crickets eat and see how long it takes them to devour whatever I give them. They find their food by smelling with their antennae on their heads.  I usually give them lettuce, carrot, or spinach leaves. Crickets will eat anything you give them. They will even eat cardboard!

By taking care of the crickets, I learned I must give them plenty to eat to keep them healthy. I also learned to keep their container clean. I discovered they like to be in groups and not alone. They also like the dark, and when I turn off the light, they come out of their hiding to eat and explore.

I am happy I decided to catch crickets and keep them inside. Its also fun to watch the lizards eat them too.  It was enjoyable to keep them in a separate container, so I could watch and study them. It is also interesting to see what diet they liked the best, and see how many days it took for them to eat the food. I hope to learn more about crickets this year.

~Jonah