Today is Day 81 of the Papa’s Walk Challenge.
I decide to go for a night walk and set out about 9:00 PM. I expected to report on “things that go bump in the night,” but the predominate sound was the harmonic strains from an orchestra of crickets. The male insects were unabashedly serenading potential mates. Males rub their wings together to make the chirping sound that defines territory and attracts females.
Their chirping was soft and quiet along the first part of my route, then there was a crescendo midway that became so loud it sounded amplified. Crickets are amazing little critters. You can hear them chirping during summer evenings – a great form of entertainment on a family night walk.
You can hear a cricket chirping in this sound clip on YouTube: Cricket Sound
EnchantedLearning.com offers a diagram showing the anatomy of a cricket – print it out and let the kids color it!
The University of Arizona provides a great cricket fact sheet that even provides tips on how to find and collect live crickets.
Chinese, Japanese, and Native American cultures have beliefs that crickets are good luck. Click Here to find out why.
On BugFacts.com you’ll find some interesting facts about crickets, including this: “It is rumored that crickets can tell the outside temperature: Count the number of chirps they make in one minute, divide by 4 and then add the number 40 to reach the outside temperature.” I’ll have to try that on my next night walk.