How Do Crickets Chirp?

Animals

Male crickets rub their wings together to attract female crickets, and the result is the "chirping" noise we hear. Male crickets are equipped with their own built-in fiddle system, and both male and females have their "ears" in their front legs below the knee. Each of the male's wings has a rough surface on its underside — the file. In the same place on top of each wing is a scraper. The cricket rubs the scraper of either wing against the file of the other to make his music, or his mating call. This cricket music is called stridulation.

Crickets rest by day and become active at night. The warmer the weather, the more actively a cricket sings. But it won't sing on nights when the temperature is below 55°. You can't always follow a cricket's sound; it can make its noise appear to be coming from somewhere else.
For centuries, crickets have been kept as pets. Known as suzumishi in Japan, thousands are distributed in tiny bamboo cages each summer to help people forget the heat.

Count the number of cricket chirps in 14 seconds. Add 40. The answer gives the exact temperature in degrees Fahrenheit!

Comments

crickets

Submitted by suzie (not verified) on Tue, 2009/09/08 - 8:51am.

i have a pet cricket lol, never started out that way, my son has a lizzard, say no more, one escaped and didnt wanna put it in with the lizard incase it had been around any harmful stuff while on the run so i put it in a box and called it jimminy, hes grown so much now and always chirping, day and night, hes just started to get use to me been around and in the daytime he sits next to my fish tank and goes up on his back legs lookin in the tank lol
he eats all kinds of veg n stuff and is growing daily,

i think they amazin little things

i gave him a friend but he seemed to jump on it and try to hurt it so hes alone now, any ideas on stuff i can put in his tank so he has more to do n stuff