Insects 4th grade

                                       Crickets by: Abbey

           “Chirp, Chirp!”  What is that noise? You can hear me but you do not see me. It is the cricket of course! If you want to hear more you should read why the Cricket is so interesting!

Did you know that the grasshopper and cricket are part of the same family? First you should know that crickets are black and green. Crickets sing when they are happy so they sound like violins. If you take off a crickets elbows you take off their ears! That sounds very interesting so far!                                                                                                   

Do you know where crickets live? Crickets are found where crops are grown. Sometimes there are so many they cause damage to crops. You will mostly find crickets in North America or South America. If you want to find crickets look under branches or boards.                                                                                                                                                

Are you wondering how crickets survive? Crickets eat plant material plus planting seeds. The bombardier Beetle and birds are crickets’ enemies and the praying mantis also eats crickets. To protect themselves they try to blend in or quickly hop away. You now know why your plants are disappearing!                                                                                            

Are you wondering about the crickets Life Cycle? The crickets have an incomplete metamorphosis. Crickets lay their eggs in late summer then the eggs hatch in spring. The crickets have about 2,000 babies at a time. They are called nymphs. Through a series of molts they usually reach the adult stage quickly. New adults appear by midsummer. Now you know what is happening with the cricket’s eggs and life cycle.                 

So now when you see a cricket (or hear it) you will know a lot about them. So maybe you will research the crickets too!! “Chirp chirp” the cricket says before they go to sleep!  

cited sources: Cricketology by Michael Ross and www.grolier.com (Multimedia Encyclopedia)