What do crickets eat? This question often arises with the sounds of such a familiar, measured insect song, symbolizing homeliness and comfort. The mustachioed "master of the bake" always evoked a reverent attitude in Russia; such a crumb can significantly reduce the number of unpleasant numerous neighbors: fleas and cockroaches.
Cricket lifestyle
Crickets belong to the order Long-nosed, order Orthoptera and comprise more than 2000 species. They know how to adapt well to environmental conditions, feeling comfortable both in hot humid tropics and in practically barren, dry areas.
The domestic cricket Acheta domestica naturally lives in the desert territories of North Africa, where water is available only in the form of dew drops, and vegetation is practically absent. What do crickets eat in nature? In such modest conditions, the desert inhabitant does not disdain anything, feeds on found organic residues, even long dried up.
Insistently rummaging in sand, searches for eggs, larvae and pupae of other insects. At home, in dark basement corners or under the floor of a hut, a cricket behaves in the same way and actively destroys flea nests and cockroach broods. What do crickets eat at home?
Survival features
Acheta domestica is the only cricket species that has managed to adapt to coexistence with humans. This feature allowed the insect to move northward and inhabit everywhere where people live. In the summer, the cricket leaves the habitable dwelling and is removed to “free bread” until the autumn cold.
How do crickets live? What do they eat? It is known that the mustachioed "lodger" is a very modest insect and does not betray its presence with anything other than singing. As a rule, only one individual has the right to perform songs on the territory of the dwelling - the strongest male in this territory. The rest are driven out, and the struggle for primacy is not for life, but for death. Crickets mercilessly fight for the championship, tear each other's mustache, wings, paws; often enough, the winner eats the loser. The most terrible and shameful wound is the loss of a mustache. The greedless cricket leaves the battlefield in disgrace, loses the status of a producer, and lives in exile, not appearing to fellow humans.
Cricket fights
The cricket tendency to collision is successfully used by Asian peoples, organizing exciting fights of these insects. To warm up, it is enough to place a female between six-legged opponents, for which a serious fight breaks out in the same second. The winner of the championship gets a comfortable cage, a rich menu and a harem of the most attractive females. The offspring of such a fighter will be valued at a huge amount of money.
The hosts raise the morale of the lost pets by throwing them into the air, which causes the insect to spread its wings and fly. The cricket will not fly far, but the spirits in its mood depressed from the loss will significantly increase. According to studies, in flight, the insect produces octopamine, the so-called fearlessness hormone, which gives the male the ability to fight further.
Cricket lifestyle
Cricket is inherent in the nocturnal mode of existence, but the insect at sunset does not forget to sing the roulades known to all. The cricket musical instrument sits on the wings; one of the elytra is equipped with a "bow" - a thickened vein with a large number of regular teeth, on the other there are "strings" - veins. There are also "resonators", which are mirrors from the membranes. To extract sound, a cricket raises the elytra and makes them certain movements.
The Italian representative Oecanthus pellucens Scop is especially melodious against the background of his brothers. It was this species that the ancient Greeks kept in their cells. Masters of Ancient China used vessels made of ceramics for this occasion - a material that can significantly enhance the sound made by a winged musician. By the way, the older the male, the richer his music sounds.
In the fight for the attention of the ladies
The ladies' hearts of male crickets are quite finicky and force the gentleman to persuade them during the day: waltz around the chosen one, drive away rivals, sing serenades. In case of victory, the male suspends a special bag with seed material - a spermatophore - to the abdomen of the lady’s heart and quickly retracts home. This precaution is explained by the fact that the fertilized female becomes very gluttonous and can eat her lover in a fit of hunger.
Egg laying is carried out one week after fertilization. After half a month, tiny larvae emerge onto the surface of the soil. Before the onset of the adult insect stage, they have to survive 4-6 links. Strength and size of the jaws - these are the characteristics that distinguish between larvae and adult crickets.
What do insect babies eat? Their diet consists of fruits, berries and tender shoots - in general, pasture.
Homemade crickets: what to eat?
Crickets can be successfully kept at home, using an old aquarium for residence, at the bottom of which it is recommended to place several stones and snags, pour a layer of sand or earth. The top needs to be covered with a grid. The created conditions will be appreciated by such interesting insects as crickets. What do mustachioed pets eat? Virtually everything. Grated vegetables, fruits, clover and dandelion leaves, steamed bran, soft caterpillars and pupae, milk, dog and cat food. Adult individuals are able to use a feeder, young animals are recommended to sprinkle food evenly over the entire area of the substrate, removing plant residues every 2-3 days. For watering an insect is better to use wet sand or a damp sponge, crickets do not know how to use drinkers.