Cricket Breeding Habits

Crickets are members of the orthoptera order of insects, which also include grasshoppers and katydids. Their common attributes include good hearing and vision, having compound eyes enabling them to see in many directions at once. There are around 900 species of crickets, with cricket length size varying from 1/2-inch to 1-1/2-inches. Knowing the breeding habits and cycles of crickets would be useful to anyone who decides to raise these insects.

Chirping for Breeding Purposes

Male crickets chirp to entice female crickets for breeding purposes. There are four types of cricket chirping: calling chirping, which is loud and attracts females while repelling male crickets; courting chirping, which is very quiet and used when a female cricket is nearby to serenade her; aggressive chirping, which is very loud to warn off male crickets; and copulatory chirping, which is only briefly used after sperm has been successfully laid on the female's eggs. Only male crickets are able to chirp. They do this by running the top of one of their wings along the underside of their other wing. However, all crickets have tympanic membranes on their front legs, which enables the female crickets to hear the male cricket's chirping.

Breeding Habitats

Adult crickets generally spend their time in burrows of damp soil by plants in grasslands and forests. As long as they have access to food, water and a high temperature, they generally breed profusely with many partners throughout their lives. Upon mating, the male cricket deposits sperm on the female which will reach her eggs over a period of time. A clutch of her eggs are then buried in the ground to hatch.

Breeding Cycle

A cricket's lifespan is generally less than one year. Mating usually takes place in late summer, yet the female cricket waits until winter to lay her eggs. She will search for the perfect place to lay her eggs, generally on the ground, where they will stay until it is time for them to hatch in springtime. The new cricket, also known as nymph, resembles an adult cricket from birth, although it has no wings. Throughout time, it will shed its skin several times before its wings will begin to develop. Female crickets are known to lay eggs throughout almost all of their life, producing up to 2,000 eggs in total.

References

• Exotic-Pets.eu: Breeding Crickets
• HortFACT: Black Field Cricket Life Cycle
• Insecta Inspecta World: Field Crickets
• Buzzle.com: Facts About Cricket Insects