Friday Fun Facts About Crickets

Tom EgelhoffPublished: January 20, 2017

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 15: A pigeon burger with BBQ Meal Worms is prepared for a customer on a 'Pop Up' stand at One New Change on August 15, 2013 in London, England. The pest control specialist, Rentokil are celebrating their 85th anniversary, and for one day only were giving passers by the chance to try sweet chilli pigeon burgers, salted weaver ants, BBQ Mole Crickets and chocolate dipped worms amongst other things on their stand. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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Since yesterday’s blog had to do with crickets as a source of protein for diets in the future I thought it might be fun to learn more about these remarkable insects.

Here are some facts about this interesting insect — not the British version of baseball also known as “Cricket.”

Fun Facts About Crickets

Crickets are not all lumped together. There are approximately 900 species of crickets with about 100 being found in the US.
In China crickets are symbols of good luck.
Not sure I would consider the sounds of crickets as music but a group of crickets is called an “Orchestra.” I’ll wait for the soundtrack.
Adult crickets get no respect. Baby crickets are called “nymphs.” But there is no name for adult crickets other than male and female crickets.
Not on the endangered insect list. At any one time there are more than a trillion crickets in the world.
Crickets have large hind legs and can jump 20-30 times their body length.
Crickets have wings but don’t fly.
A cricket’s antennae can be as long or longer than it’s body.
Crickets can be brown, black, green or red in color depending on where they are in the world.
The common household cricket is about a half-inch in length and the field cricket can reach up to about one inch in length. Other species can be up to two inches long.
A normal paperclip is about a gram in weight. A cricket can weigh between 0.2 t0 0.8 grams.
The largest populations of crickets are found in warm regions of the globe. The Black Field Cricket is the species most commonly found in the United States.
Crickets usually live in meadows, in logs, under rocks and in pastures. Most live above ground but some will live in trees and underground.
Crickets are scavengers. Their main diet consists of decaying plants, fungi and dead or injured crickets.
You want crickets in your garden because they will chow down on ants and aphids.
Crickets are nocturnal. They sleep during the day and forage for food at night.
It’s possible to tell the temperature based on the timing of the crickets song.