House Cricket Scientific Facts

Crickets are typical of insects in that they possess six legs, a head, abdomen and thorax, and have two antennae. Crickets, though, have large back legs, giving them the ability to jump long distances in proportion to how big they are. The house cricket is a species also known as "cricket on the hearth" for its tendency to live indoors. The species exists across the globe, with those in the United States living in the eastern half. You will often hear a house cricket long before you see it, if you ever do.

Identification

The house cricket male is from 5/8 inches long to three quarters of an inch in length. The females are as long as 7/8 of an inch. The body shape of a house cricket is nearly cylindrical, according to the “National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects & Spiders.” While many crickets are black, the house cricket is a brownish-yellow shade, with darker bands around the area of its head. The house cricket features two separate pairs of wings, but only the hind pair is useful in helping it to fly when necessary. The antennae of house crickets are about half as long as the cricket’s body length.

Life Cycle

The life cycle of the house cricket is the same as other crickets, as the young develop from eggs laid by the females. The house cricket female can lay as many as 100 eggs during the course of her life, with these eggs deposited in tiny cracks, crevices and in the soil outside. The eggs hatch in two weeks time and the nymphs emerge, looking like the adult phase with the exception of having no wings. In from two to three months the nymph becomes an adult, molting and shedding their skins each time they grow. The adult cricket survives only for about three months.

Diet

The diet of the house cricket is a varied lot, as crickets have the ability to eat just about anything. Crumbs and scraps of food make places such as restaurants, bakeries and kitchens a favorite haunt of the house cricket. House crickets will also devour other bugs, plant matter, and fabrics when food becomes hard to locate. House crickets keep a low profile during the day, coming out from their hiding places at night to forage for food.

Chirping Sounds

The house cricket makes a pest of itself with its loud chirping, which can become irritating when you are attempting to sleep. Male crickets chirp to attract other crickets by using their wings. A scraping organ on one wing rubs against a spot on the other wing that in essence resembles the teeth found on a file. The resulting high-pitched noise, the chirping, brings female crickets to the male. The usual call is a series of short chirps that the house cricket repeats periodically.

Habitat

The house cricket survives the cold winter months in its habitat by finding a warm place to live, with many seeking shelter inside a home, barn, basement or other structure. Some survive the freeze by heading into dumps and compost piles, where the heat that comes from fermentation keeps them alive. Once inside a home, a house cricket will stay where it is moist and warm.

References

• University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.edu: House Cricket
• Ask the Exterminator.com: House Cricket
• "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders"; Lorus and Marjery Milne; 2009