Insect cricket. What a cricket looks like - photos and descriptions of insect species. Aerosol products are more effective

It is difficult to miss the appearance of crickets in the house: regular "concerts" at night unbalance even the most calm people. Small insects emit characteristic sounds; when living in a dwelling of several individuals, you can forget about sleep.

It is difficult to catch a cricket, you have to use chemicals, traps and folk methods... Competent actions will save the owners from unpleasant "neighbors". How to get crickets out of the house? Let's figure it out.

General information about the insect

In temperate latitudes, there are several species of crickets. The main habitat is green spaces, the basement of the house, but often insects "give concerts" in the corner or on the wall of the room.

More often than others, two types of crickets are taken into a person's dwelling: field and brownie. The second type is always located next to private houses and high-rise buildings, the first type sometimes settles in an apartment. Not all people know what crickets look like: during the day it is difficult to meet them in prominent places of the home.

Features of appearance and activity:

• an insect from the Orthoptera order lives in warm, humid places. Basements are the main place where house crickets meet. Body color - grayish-yellow, body length - from 15 to 25 mm. Field cricket is black. Both species have long whiskers like cockroaches;
• the body is squat, but shorter than that of cockroaches or grasshoppers;
• the hind legs are longer than the front ones, adapted for jumping. Insects move shorter distances (the grasshopper jumps further);
• crickets search for food debris in human dwellings, eat small insects, for example, moths. In the absence of food, they attack smaller individuals of their kind;
• in the daytime, mustachioed "singers" hide in cracks, baseboards, climb into dried-up window frames, go out hunting at night, and make characteristic sounds.

How to get rid of: methods of struggle

The first thing that comes to mind is to catch a cricket. Despite the seeming simplicity of the method (you can clearly hear where the sound is coming from), it is difficult to implement the idea. Insects feel air vibrations well, hearing is sensitive, it is difficult to approach the “singer” closer than three or four steps. The owners have to use other, more effective methods.

Crickets destroy small pests, for example, but constant nightly "concerts", insomnia in tenants negate the benefits of living next to humans.

Sticky traps

A sticky device will help you catch the cricket. Hang up the duct tape in the areas where the night "singers" were seen. For greater efficiency, it is advisable to buy several products for catching annoying insects. Adhesive tape is inexpensive and gives noticeable results.

Important! When breeding "singing" insects, traps alone are not enough: toxic aerosols and mechanical removal of oviposites are required.

Folk remedies and recipes

To scare away annoying "singers", formulations based on medicinal plants are suitable:

• wormwood decoction. You will need 2 tbsp per liter of water. l. chopped leaves and stems. Boil the composition for 5 minutes, close the lid, remove from heat, let it brew for two hours. Pour the filtered product into a spray bottle, spray the baseboards, floors, walls, window sills, window frames;
• pyrethrum powder. The herbal remedy does not harm people and pets. A special variety of chamomile is often used by the hosts to repel harmful insects. Crickets also do not tolerate the characteristic smell of the plant. Spread the pyrethrum powder over the areas where annoying "troublemakers" have been noticed.

Chemicals

Toxic drugs will be needed if the insects had time to lay eggs. For the destruction of crickets, compositions based on Dichlorvos are suitable - varieties Super, Neo, Varan. A universal remedy with and without scent has a detrimental effect on adult insects. Repeated processing of the premises helps to destroy individuals hatched from eggs.

Pest control rules:

• put on a protective suit, plastic transparent glasses, a respirator, protect your hands with gloves;
• a can of Dichlorvos is ready for use;
• close all doors, windows, take household members out of the apartment. Pets and a fish tank are also not needed during processing;
• shake the can several times, start pest control;
• processing is carried out in areas where crickets have been sighted. Be sure to spray the composition on doors, window sills, corners, window frames;
• the optimal distance to the surface is 25–30 cm. Carefully go through all the zones, spray the composition into the cracks, behind the skirting boards, if they lag behind the walls;
• keep a container with a toxic composition at arm's length so that vapors do not get on the face;
• leave the premises after disinsection;
• return after 6 hours, open windows, pick up dead insects;
• mandatory stage - airing for half an hour;
• it remains to collect with a vacuum cleaner with a disposable egg-laying filter at the baseboards and in the corners, do wet cleaning;
• reprocessing of the apartment is carried out in 40–70 days. During this period, adult insects appear from eggs that have remained unnoticed;
• after the destruction of crickets, the owners should think about how to prevent the reappearance of annoying "singers" in the apartment or house. The section "Preventive measures" describes available ways protection of the home from the penetration of insects.

How to deal with? See an overview of effective chemicals and recipes for folk remedies.

Crickets in the house: a sign

They say that the "concerts" given by the little musician testify to the good news for the owners. A cricket in the house - to joy and goodness: this is exactly what it says folk omen.

But often the owners dream of getting rid of such "happiness" that interferes with sleep. If two or three individuals have settled at home, egg-laying has appeared, crickets have bred, then the signs fade into the background.

Prevention measures

Compliance with simple rules will save the owners from the appearance of annoying "singers" in the house:

• fix the mosquito net on the windows;
• cover up all the cracks in doors, window frames, floor;
• tightly close the trash can, remove crumbs, food debris from the table;
• prevent dampness in the premises;
• warn sanitary services and employees of the management company about the accumulation of water in the basement;
• double your vigilance when living on the lower floors: the inhabitants of the basements (crickets,) often climb into the dwelling if there are holes or cracks in the floor or baseboards next to the sewer pipes;
• illuminate the yard with medium-power lamps, the best option is yellow light;
• close the ventilation grilles with a mesh with fine meshes;
• compost heaps, place a scattering of sawdust at a distance from a private house, in the far corner of the site;
• cut greenery near the house, avoid planting close to the structure of climbing plants;
• close the blinds in the evening, draw the curtains: bright light attracts insects.

If preventive measures are observed, the night "singers" from the Orthoptera squad will not disturb sleep. If a cricket has entered the house, it is important to get rid of the insect until several individuals have settled in the house. With the active reproduction of annoying "neighbors" that disturb the peace of the household, you will have to carry out self-treatment with insecticides or call sanitary workers for disinsection.

Cricket in the house: well-being or sleepless nights? Useful information in the following video:

Crickets are orthoptera insects, the family of which includes 8 subfamilies and 2300 species. Males make loud sounds with the help of their elytra.

The most famous species is the house cricket. These insects live with people for many years, so they are practically considered pets. People do not feel the dislike of house crickets, which they have for flies, moths, cockroaches and bedbugs.

Crickets are native inhabitants North Africa and the Far East. But these insects spread throughout Europe, later they settled in North America, and then came to South Australia.

Cricket is a thermophilic insect that lives at temperatures of at least 20 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is lower, then the cricket becomes inactive and stops feeding. The larvae of crickets also behave, at low temperatures they stop growing and forming.

Listen to the voice of an ordinary cricket

That is why crickets have always settled in Russian huts behind the stoves, where the temperature is always high even in cold winters. V summer time crickets left human habitation and settled in nature.

The appearance of crickets

The body length of this insect ranges from 15-25 millimeters. The main body color is yellowish, it is diluted with light brown specks. There are 3 dark stripes on the head.

Behavior, feeding and reproduction of crickets

During "singing" males raise the front, rigid pair of wings, called elytra, and rub them against each other, resulting in a chirping sound. The wings of the cricket themselves are well developed, so it can fly, but this opportunity is used on rare occasions. With the help of their "singing" males attract females and warn other males not to approach the pair.

Females lay eggs directly in the soil in summer. The higher the air temperature, the more eggs the female lays. The clutches are small heaps. The total number of laid eggs is 50-200 pieces, and in hot regions the clutch can consist of 500-600 eggs. As a rule, eggs develop in 20-30 days, but this process is directly influenced by the temperature regime.

In the process of formation of these insects, the pupa stage is absent, that is, larvae are immediately formed from the eggs, outwardly similar to adults. The difference lies in the lack of wings and in size. The larvae molt several times and after 1.5 months take the form of an adult insect.

The lifespan of an adult cricket is extremely short - only 1.5 months. Life cycle in this case it is 90-120 days. But crickets that live in the tropics live about 6-7 months. The lifespan of field crickets is 14-15 months, but this is taking into account hibernation.

V modern times The crickets do not live behind the stoves, since there are no stoves in the houses. For the winter, these insects settle in heating mains, heated basements and boiler rooms. Crickets love to live on livestock farms, where it is always warm and there is a large amount of food.

The cricket feeds mainly on plant foods, but other insects are also included in the diet. Adults hunt even small relatives, in addition, they eat their eggs.

A popular omen says that if a cricket is wound up in the house, then this is to happiness and well-being. But people who have visited such "happiness" in large numbers do not share this point of view. They are looking for ways to get rid of this scourge.

House crickets prefer to live in the fresh air in the warm season, and in winter they can come to "bask" under your roof

Crickets, like grasshoppers, cockroaches, bears and locusts, belong to the Orthoptera order. About 2.3 thousand species of these insects are known in the world, of which only about 50 are found in Russia. Most of them live in subtropical and tropical countries... The most famous species in our country are the field cricket and the brownie cricket.

House cricket (Acheta domesticus) in the southern part of the country lives both in apartments and in nature. In the central and northern regions, he lives only in houses next to a person, while giving preference to old warm rooms with high humidity. These insects live well and reproduce in warm basements flooded with water. They are quite large (body length 16-26 millimeters), grayish-yellow in color. Field crickets are dark, almost black.

In the warm season, domestic crickets usually live on the street, and with the onset of cold snaps they rush into warm rooms, climbing through all kinds of cracks, vents, and ventilation openings. But many people do not know what a cricket looks like, since during the day it usually hides, crawling out at night in search of food. It is difficult to get closer to these insects at a distance of 2-3 steps, since they have good hearing and retreat in time. Their back pair of legs is longer and adapted for jumping (like grasshoppers). But crickets do not jump that far and have a squat and shorter body.

These insects are omnivorous: in houses they feed on food leftovers, preferring liquid food. They also eat other invertebrates, with a lack of food they are able to feed on their weaker relatives. Sometimes crickets can spoil food and even things in the apartment, as well as moths. Therefore, although the popular omen is not advised to offend these insects, the owners have to decide how to remove the crickets that have settled in the house.

Perhaps the cricket that settled in the house did not deserve destruction, but with its "songs" it can deprive all household members of sleep

The owners will find out very soon that a new “guest” has arrived in the house from his nightly “concerts” and begin to think about how to get rid of the cricket. Under favorable conditions, the house cricket can breed. all year round... In only one season, the female is capable of producing up to 180 young individuals, therefore, if they are not removed in a timely manner, the insects very quickly form a significant colony.

Getting rid of crickets is not easy, as they hide during the day and are nocturnal. Currently, there are a large number of preparations for domestic insects, but there are no specialized insecticides for crickets yet. Nevertheless effective ways control of these insects in the house exist.

• If there is one cricket in the apartment, then the easiest way to get it out is to catch it. You can catch an insect at night, when it comes out of its shelter in search of food and publishes trills. Having determined the location of the "singer" by ear, you need to light it up and try to catch it with a jar or hand. So you can get rid of several crickets that have just appeared in the apartment.
• With enough a large number insects in the house, when they have already laid eggs, you have to resort to the use of chemicals. To get rid of crickets, the same drugs are usually used as for fighting other domestic insects, but dichlorvos-based pesticides are considered the most effective. When handling the premises, it should be remembered that insecticides are toxic to people, therefore, it is advisable for residents and pets to leave the house for one or two days during disinfestation. The time for the development of a cricket from an egg to a young individual is from 40 to 70 days, in this regard, re-processing of the premises will be required to get rid of insects that have re-emerged from the eggs. When working with pesticides, you should strictly follow the instructions and use personal protective equipment.
• A safe way to get crickets out is by setting sticky traps. They are placed in warm and humid places where insects usually live.
• You can get rid of the night "singer" very effective folk remedy... In the room, you should light ordinary sealing wax. Crickets cannot stand the smell of such smoke and quickly leave the apartment.
• Domestic crickets are moisture-loving insects, which means that they can live and reproduce only in places with high humidity. That is why they live in bathrooms, warm and humid basements, under sinks. If the room is well dried, then the crickets will either go to other, more suitable places for them, or die. Getting rid of insects in this way is quite simple, and, most importantly, it will not affect the health of people and pets in any way.
• In order to block insects from entering the apartment from the street, from the basement or from neighbors, it is necessary to putty all the cracks, and tighten the ventilation holes and channels with mosquito nets.

Domestic crickets do not cause significant harm to people, but they are forced to get rid of them, since these insects with their "songs" interfere with the owners' sleep at night.

In fairy tales, crickets are always positive heroes, many good omens are associated with them. Therefore, in life, a person's attitude towards these insects is good-naturedly condescending.

What does a cricket look like, photo

As soon as insects become neighbors of people in an apartment or at home, everything changes. Night trills are far from everyone's liking, and outwardly insects are more reminiscent of few pleasant cockroaches.

A domestic cricket looks like a Prussian cockroach.

The house cricket is a small insect. The body is slender, slightly flattened. It is covered with a hard shell from grayish-yellow and straw-yellow color to rather dark shades of brown with specks, streaks and spots.

Small eyes are located on the sides of the ovoid flattened head. Long antennae are often larger than the owner himself. The insect has well developed wings. There are 3 pairs of legs. Thanks to the special structure of the hind legs, crickets can jump perfectly. Salient feature insects - the ability to issue specific trills, curl.

Why and where do these insects appear in an apartment or house

In nature, crickets live close to humans, preferring old buildings with many cracks, old rugs and high humidity. With a cold snap, insects move to new buildings, meeting even on the upper floors. The reason is the renovation or complete overhaul of the house.

One of the reasons for the appearance of uninvited guests in a multi-storey building is the breeding of "night singers" by one of its inhabitants and the escape of crickets from the place of detention.

Insects can be delivered both as part of the product and in things from the previous home.

In human homes, insects need warmth and food. Damp warm rooms with abundant food have become favorite places for crickets. Therefore, the lack of cleanliness, a considerable amount of food waste in uncovered trash cans are perceived by insects as invitation cards.

House crickets have chosen warm basements, warehouses, industrial premises, and heating plants as their habitats. The "Night Musician" also settles in people's homes. Crickets move into the premises with a cold snap.

Insects are omnivorous. In natural conditions, they prefer plant foods. But the diet is diversified by eating other insects and even young individuals of their own species.

In a human home, crickets prefer food leftovers: pieces of fruits, vegetables, bread crumbs. Crickets eat cockroaches, moths. The "singers" like droplets of drinks, excluding alcoholic ones.

During the day, uninvited guests hide under the baseboards, hiding in dark secluded corners.

It is possible to detect "neighbors" only with the onset of darkness by sound.

How to get rid of crickets (with reviews)

Not all people like night singing. Therefore, they try to evict night singers, the cause of sleepless nights, from the house, despite the good omens associated with these insects.

We had one cricket, first under the stairs, then he moved to the toilet. We sealed the cracks in the toilet into which he could pass, and from the side of the heat generator we puffed him with a ride from cockroaches and crawling insects with a lavender scent. A few minutes later I found him dead on the way to the air - apparently I went out to catch my breath but still died from the aerosol. Another mother nailed in the toilet. And I vacuumed one more in a vacuum cleaner when he crawled into our house from the street. They become less mobile in the cold and are easy to catch. You can't let him get warm - his blood will warm up and he will start jumping - you can catch it. And only males curl during the mating season - they attract females, who then lay 100-300 eggs. crickets hatch from them, and they begin to yell in the same way a month later (at puberty). So you need to get rid of them as soon as possible, because you will never understand whether the females came or not, they are quiet, or maybe they have already come, fertilized and laid eggs. Briefly speaking. destroy immediately upon detection.

the guest

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If a cricket has started up in the house, it is important to get rid of the restless neighbor immediately, until several individuals settle in the room: by chirping, the cricket attracts females. After breeding, the "executors" will have to be treated with insecticides, and workers of special services will have to be called for disinsection.

Traps, “grandmother's” means and chemicals are used to rid the home of uninvited guests.

However, the safest method is to dry and ventilate the premises. With a lack of moisture, crickets die or leave the apartments. And this option does not harm the health of the inhabitants of the house.

Traps

Feeders are one of the simplest methods of dealing with crickets. A little molasses is mixed with water, the finished mass is placed in a deep vessel. The insect sweets will certainly go for a treat and get inside the container. They will not be able to get out on their own.

More difficult to manufacture "trapping pit". For her, they take a two-level container, set it on a bowl. Mix sweet corn flakes with milk, add sugar and place the bait in the bottom container, pouring into the upper alcohol.

The aroma of the food will attract the attention of the crickets. They will start flying over the tank. Alcohol fumes will kill insects.

It is important to use alcohol: only it is harmful to insects.

A sticky trap will help you catch the cricket. The tape is hung up where uninvited guests were seen. It is recommended that you purchase a few sticky traps.

Sticky tape helps get rid of pet crickets

Folk recipes

Scare off with an effective wormwood broth with a cricket.

1. 2 large tablespoons of chopped grass are poured with a liter of water.
2. The composition is boiled for 5 minutes, covered with a lid, removed from heat and insisted for 2 hours.
3. The product is filtered, poured into a container with a spray bottle.
4. The compound is sprayed on all surfaces, including skirting boards and window frames.

Powder of feverfew, Persian chamomile helps in the fight against insects quite well. Crickets do not tolerate the characteristic aroma. Therefore, a natural remedy is used to scare off night "singers", to survive them from the home. The powder is scattered in areas where restless neighbors appear.

Sealing wax helps a lot. It is lit by fumigating the apartment. The insects do not tolerate the smell of such smoke and leave the room.

It is more troublesome for people to hunt. Since crickets are awake at night, you have to try to destroy the enemy when the light is on. You have to focus on the sound made by the insect. Having determined approximately the location of the singer, they light a flashlight and show dexterity. Fly swatter and slippers are also used.

Insects have excellent hearing and reaction: they do not allow them to get closer than 3 meters.

There is an old-fashioned way for private houses. For crickets, a sweet bait is prepared, leaving a sweet fruit in the place where uninvited guests are concentrated. At night, insects go for a tempting treat. Here they are caught.

The habitat of the cricket is poured with boiling water. This method works in a private house, but the method is unacceptable in an apartment.

If a cat or a dog lives in the house, then catching a cricket will not be a problem for the owners of the premises. The animal catches the "night singers" and eats them. Insects are especially loved by more exotic pets, lizards, for example. It is for their feeding that insects are specially bred.

It is good to hang feeders next to the house so that the birds catch crickets.

Chemicals

If the night performers managed to lay eggs, then more serious measures will be required. Of the toxic drugs, Dichlorvos-based products are suitable. Effective drugs "Super", "Varan", "Neo".

The “Brownie” gel has a destructive effect on adults. The drug is used to treat the habitats of uninvited guests. The procedures are carried out over several days. The universal aerosol preparation "Prima-71", "Neofos-2" works well.

Aerosol products are more effective.

Repeated insecticidal treatment will help to get rid of young individuals hatched from eggs. It is carried out in compliance with safety precautions.

1. Be sure to wear a protective suit, plastic goggles, and a respirator. For hand protection - gloves.
2. The doors and windows of the premises are closed, people, animals leave the dwelling. They even take out an aquarium with fish.
3. Shake the can with "Dichlorvos" several times and start spraying. All habitats where crickets have been sighted are treated. The composition must be sprayed on all surfaces, not disregarding the corners of the room. It is optimal to do this from a distance of 25-30 centimeters.
4. All areas are thoroughly treated, the composition is sprayed into the cracks behind the skirting boards lagging behind the walls. The container is held from the face at arm's length to protect it from poisonous vapors.
5. The room is left after the completion of disinfestation for 6 hours.
6. After the specified time has elapsed, the windows are opened, airing the dwelling for half an hour. Remove dead insects with a vacuum cleaner. Be sure to throw the filter away from your home. They pass with a vacuum cleaner near the corners, at the baseboards, in the corners.
7. After doing wet cleaning.
8. After 40–70 days, a second treatment is carried out to destroy adult insects that have emerged from eggs that have not been noticed during the first treatment.

Traps alone will not cope with bred "singers". It is impossible to do without aerosols and mechanical destruction of egg clutches.

Of the modern insecticides, Tarax is recognized as the most effective.

1. It is diluted with water in the ratio recommended by the instructions; it is diluted with water and the room is treated.
2. The insecticide forms a film upon drying. After contact with it, insects die.

During the processing of the premises, the inhabitants will have to leave it.

They negatively affect the effectiveness of the drug sunlight and fat.

Ovipositions are most often found in the carpet pile. If a crackling family has already emerged in the room, then it is best to purchase a special filter to retain the smallest particles for the vacuum cleaner.

Vacuum the place of masonry, seal the bag hermetically, pack it in a plastic bag and throw it away. This will help get rid of house crickets forever.

In the absence of special insecticides, hairsprays and deodorants are effective. It is important to choose a product with a strong aroma. Aerosol is sprayed into the crack where the night troublemaker is hiding. The insect gets out. Here you have to show miracles of dexterity.

Comparative characteristics of methods of dealing with crickets

If no action has helped and the crickets get bored at night, you need to contact a specialist.

Professionals will carry out pest control. For their time, however, the room will have to leave, and then to carry out cleaning, to clean textiles, furniture, to ventilate the house for a long time. But it's worth it: the night guests will stop bothering them.

However, in order not to have to re-experience all the "charms" of the struggle, it is advisable to carry out prevention.

How to prevent guests from re-appearing

Sealing all the cracks, cracks through which crickets can enter the house will help prevent re-settling. Insects can get into the room if there are cracks and holes in the floor and baseboards near the sewer pipes.

• Mosquito nets are attached to the windows so that insects cannot get into the dwelling.
• The corners near the batteries are also treated with special sprays for effective destruction of the larvae.
• Be sure to close the trash can tightly so as not to attract crickets by odors.
• It is important not to leave crumbs on the table, immediately removing food debris.
• Dampness in the premises is unacceptable. It is imperative to warn employees of the management company or employees of sanitary services about the accumulation of water in the basements.
• Residents of lower floors or private houses require special attention. In the evenings, it is necessary to close the curtains, lower the blinds so as not to attract uninvited guests from the insect world with bright light.
• To illuminate the courtyard, it is recommended to use medium-power luminaires, preferably yellow.
• The ventilation grilles are covered with a fine mesh.
• Place the compost heaps away from private houses, in the far corners of the plots.
• Greenery near the dwelling is trimmed regularly; climbing plants are not recommended to be planted close to the dwelling.

If the night trills do not cause insomnia, but appearance insects do not seem repulsive, then the neighborhood can be quite pleasant. However, there are ways to get rid of restless guests. And they should be used so as not to turn life into constant stress.

The house cricket, or domestic cricket (Latin Acheta domesticus) belongs to the family Real crickets (Gryllidae). This orthoptera insect belongs to the synanthropic species that readily settle in human dwellings and any other heated premises. In Japan and China, it is kept as a pet. It is believed to bring good luck and financial well-being.

In Asian countries, house crickets are eaten. They are mostly exposed to heat treatment in dry preheated pans, less often fried in boiling oil.

Noticed these creatures and European supporters healthy way life. As in Asia, special cricket farms now exist for them in Europe. There insects are grown, frozen and delivered to the consumer. Since May 2017, crickets are officially recognized food product in Switzerland, where they are sold in the Billa and Merkur retail chains.

The most popular is cricket flour. In terms of protein content, it surpasses chicken and beef, contains unsaturated fatty acids, iron, calcium, potassium and vitamins B and D.

Protein flour from crickets is used to make sports nutrition added to bakery and pasta... It not only contributes to the growth of muscle mass and improved digestion, but also, due to the chitin present in it, reduces negative impact radiation, prevents the development of cancer.

Spreading

The habitat originally occupied zones with arid and semi-arid climates in North Africa and Southeast Asia. There, a heat-loving insect still lives in wildlife... In the rest of the northern hemisphere, it prefers to settle in settlements with a clear preference for cuisines and bakeries.

Representatives of this species feel most comfortable at a temperature of about 32 ° C.

A decrease in it by only ten degrees causes a sharp decrease in their metabolism and activity. For this reason, they are rarely seen in city apartments with central heating.

Insects are attracted to warm rooms with high humidity, especially greenhouse complexes and compost storage areas, where heat is generated all year round. In East Africa, Acheta domesticus is found in mountainous areas at altitudes up to 2600 m above sea level.

The species is monotypic, the subspecies are unknown. V steppe zone sometimes adjacent to (Gryllus campestris).

Behavior

The house cricket is afraid of daylight, so during daylight hours it hides in shelters, but it can be active in the shade during the day. In Europe, in summer, it is observed in its natural habitat, mainly in meadows and pastures, but with the first cold snap it moves into heated buildings.

The insect is omnivorous, it feeds on food of both plant and animal origin. He likes the latter more. With an insufficient amount of protein feed, cases of cannibalism are sharply increased.

Household crickets spoil food supplies and damage paper and wood products.

They are carriers of ticks and various pathogenic bacteria, in particular Salmonella, which cause diseases such as salmonellosis, paratyphoid fever and typhoid fever.

Pests prefer foods with a high moisture content. They eat food waste, carrion, fruits and vegetables with appetite.

Reproduction

With the arrival of dusk and until the very morning, sexually mature males attract females with their singing. The sounds they make also serve to scare off competitors. Each male occupies his own own plot and fiercely defends it from the invasion of rivals.

House crickets perform their arias using a stinging cord (stridulation vein), which is rubbed at the base of the elytron on a toothed surface, causing a vibrating movement. To extract monotonous sound signals at a frequency of about 3800 Hz, it has from 193 to 260 miniature teeth.

After mating, the couple breaks up. Insects usually mate several times with different partners.

Two days after fertilization, the female lays eggs in soft soil, sawdust, vegetable residues, or any other nutrient substrate available to her. For the season, she is able to postpone an average of about 800, a maximum of 2600 pieces. The eggs have an elongated curved shape measuring 2.3x0.4 mm and are painted in an inconspicuous dark gray color.

Depending on the conditions the environment incubation lasts 8 to 12 weeks. The cooler the weather, the longer it lasts. The development of the hatched larvae depends on the temperature and the abundance of the food supply. Before turning into adults, they undergo 9 to 11 molts for 87-126 days. As a rule, in the wild, only one generation manages to be born during the year.

Many lovers of reptiles, amphibians and insectivores raise these creatures to feed their pets. Growing them at home does not require any special skills.

For 500 adults or 1000 growing individuals, it is enough to use Plastic container, an insectarium, a closed glass aquarium or a terrarium with a volume of 50x30x30 cm. The dwelling for house crickets is placed in a darkened room, they do not need additional lighting.

There is no need to install drinkers with water or spray its walls in the container. Insects will get the moisture they need from the food they eat.

As a substrate, you can take any moisture-absorbing materials, for example, dry sand or wood chips. It is recommended to use torn newspapers or cardboard (egg trays) to give pets a place to hide. They need to be changed weekly.

A small flat bowl is installed for feeding. The temperature is maintained at 24 ° -30 ° С. 2-3 hours before transportation, it can be lowered to 12 ° -16 ° C. Insects become sedentary and tolerate stress more easily.

If domestic crickets are bred for animal feed, then it is advisable to feed them with cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, wheat bran, dandelions, lettuce, and any fruit other than citrus. As a treat, they periodically give a little dry food for dogs, cats or fish. In two hours after feeding, uneaten residues must be completely removed.

Description

The body length reaches 16-20 mm in males, and females additionally have a spear-shaped ovipositor of 11-15 mm. The average length of the front wings is about 10.5 mm. The hind wings are longer, 16-20 mm.

The basic background color varies from straw to yellow-brown. A dark brown or black pattern of transverse lines is visible on the head and neck.

There are 3 pairs of legs. The hind legs are well developed and allow jumping. The long black antennae are highly mobile and can move independently of each other. Complex compound eyes are located on the sides of the head.

The hearing organs are located on the lower legs of the first pair of limbs.

The lifespan of an adult of a domestic cricket is about 3 months. Occasionally there are centenarians who live up to ten months of age.