When cleaning the office, I always find dead or dying crickets lying in the corner. The strange thing is that they all have a broken leg not far away.

I have seen this type of cricket, and I found that if the cricket's leg is broken, the cricket will not survive for a few days. Unlike cockroaches, they can survive a week if their heads are decapitated.

Cricket (xishuai) (Gryllulus; Gryllus) is an invertebrate, class Insecta, order Orthoptera, family Gryllidae. One is promoting weaving, and its common name is Cricket in northern China. About 2,500 species are known in the world, and about 150 species are known in China, including 50 species in Taiwan Province. (In addition, the data here are questionable: there are more than 1,400 named species in the world, and more than 30 species have been named in my country.) Several species are pests of dry crops. Most crickets are small and medium-sized, and a few are large. Yellowish brown to dark brown. The head is round, the chest is broad, and the filamentous antennae are slender and easy to break. Chewing mouthparts. Some have well-developed large jaws, which are stronger than bites. The front feet and middle feet are similar and the same length; the hind feet are well developed and good at jumping; the tail whiskers are longer. The hearing organ on the tibia of the forefoot is larger on the outside than on the inside. Males are vocal, aggressive, and sometimes kill each other. There are articulators on the male forewings, which are composed of scrapers, friction veins and articulating mirrors on the wing veins. The forewings are raised and rubbed left and right, thereby vibrating the sound mirror and producing a tone. Females are larger, with exposed needle-like or spear-like ovipositing tubes and small wings.

Crickets are burrow-dwelling, often inhabiting the surface, under masonry, in soil caves, and among grass. Night out activities. Omnivorous, eating a variety of crops, saplings, vegetables and fruits, etc. Certain behaviors in crickets can be induced by specific external stimuli. When fighting crickets, if you use fine soft hairs to stimulate the male cricket's mouth whiskers, it will encourage it to rush towards the opponent and fight hard; if you touch its tail hair, it will cause it to feel disgusted and kick back violently with its hind legs. Express resistance.

Common crickets (such as Beijing oil gourd) have one generation every year and overwinter with eggs in the soil. The eggs are laid singly, in soil at the edge of sunny fields, cemeteries, and haystacks where there are many weeds. The male worm builds a burrow in the earth and lives together with the female worm. It likes to live in shade, loose soil and relatively humid environment. When the insect population is too dense, they often kill each other. Peanut giant crickets have one generation per year in Guangxi. The nymphs overwinter in soil holes and are unearthed from March to April of the following year, damaging peanut seedlings. They emerge into adults in early June and continue to cause damage. In mid-to-late November, nymphs begin to overwinter. Adults and nymphs live in burrows as deep as 0.6 meters or even deeper. The newly created cave is simple, with only one escape hole. Before laying eggs, build 3 to 5 additional branch holes for egg laying, and go out to search for peanut tender stems, leaves and seeds, and transport them back to the holes to store them for raising newly hatched nymphs. The newly hatched nymphs live in groups, and after a few days they go out to forage and dig separate burrows.

Crickets are important agricultural pests in Northeast China, North China, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and South China. They damage the roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds of various crops, and the damage to seedlings is particularly serious. In the south, peanut giant crickets destroy 10% to 30% of peanut seedlings. They also damage corn, jute, tobacco, cotton, soybeans and cassava, often causing seedling shortages and affecting harvests.

Common crickets include:

Chinese cricket (Gryllus chi-nensis). The body is about 2 cm long and dark brown. It has one generation per year and overwinters as eggs in the soil. The male articulator is located near the base of the forewing, and the sound is produced by friction of the wings. The hearing organ is located on the tibia of the forefoot. It is burrowing and often moves underground, on the ground or in the cracks of masonry. It damages plant roots, stems, leaves, seeds and fruits. It feeds more often at night and bites the tender parts of plants near the ground, causing lack of seedlings. It is an agricultural pest. .

Loxoblemmus doenitzi has a flat head with a flat front end, tilting forward, and the male head protrudes significantly to both sides;

Gryllus testaceus, a dark body Colorful, shiny, with yellow stripes on the inner and upper sides of the two compound eyes, reaching to the back of the head. The forewings are light brown and shiny, the hind wings are more developed, and the female's ovipositor is 2 cm long. Foraging at night, both adults and nymphs harm crops such as soybeans, sorghum, peanuts, melons, and vegetables. It is distributed in many provinces across the country.

Crickets are solitary by nature. They generally live independently and are never allowed to live with other crickets (males also live with another female during the mating period). Therefore, they are inseparable from each other. They cannot tolerate time and will start fighting once they come into contact.

Crickets are known for their good chirping and aggressiveness. In the cricket family, male and female crickets do not achieve "hundred years of good fortune" through "free love".

Whichever male cricket is brave and good at fighting and defeats other members of the same sex, he will gain the right to possess the female cricket. Therefore, the phenomenon of "polygamy" is not uncommon in the cricket family. Of course, from the perspective of biological evolution, this is also natural selection, survival of the fittest, and is conducive to the health and prosperity of the children and grandchildren of the cricket family. In addition, the chirping of crickets is also quite famous. Different pitches and frequencies can express different meanings. The loud and long rhythmic chirping of crickets at night is a warning to others of the same sex: This is my territory, don’t invade! At the same time, it also attracts the opposite sex: "I'm here, come quickly!" When someone of the same sex rushes in without knowing the courtesy, it will chirp majestically and urgently as a stern warning. If the "ultimatum" fails, then a murderous battle to seize territory and defend the leader will begin. Two crickets throw away their big teeth, kick their legs and flap their wings, and fight together. The intensity of the battle is no less than that of two ancient crickets. The most brutal hand-to-hand combat between the two countries.

Crickets are distributed over a wide area, almost all over the country, and more in the provinces south of the Yellow River. It likes to live on hillsides, fields, rock piles and grass with slightly moist soil.

This insect usually starts chirping in August in summer. It chirps most happily in the wild at 20 degrees Celsius, and stops chirping in late October when the weather turns cold. It has one generation every year and lays eggs in the soil to survive the winter.

When a male insect meets a female, its chirp can change into: "chirp, chirp, chirp," and when mating, it makes a trembling "chirp..." sound.

Males are aggressive. When two males meet, they first erect their wings and chirp to show off their authority. Then they go head to head, opening their pliers-like mouths to bite each other, and kicking them with their feet. , you can often advance and retreat for 3 to 5 rounds. Then, the loser fled silently, while the winner raised his wings high and sang loudly and proudly, looking very proud.

Crickets have been kept by humans since ancient times because of their ability to sing and fight. According to records, raising crickets in Chinese families began in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, whether it was officials or ordinary people, people like to bring their "treasures" and get together to compete in their spare time. According to research, crickets are an ancient insect with a history of at least 140 million years.

Every quiet summer night, there will be bursts of clear and sweet chirping sounds in the grass. Listen, the crickets are having a concert again! The cricket's beautiful song does not come from its voice, but from its wings. If you observe carefully, you will find that the cricket is constantly vibrating its wings. Is it flapping its wings to fly? Of course not, the wings are its vocal organs. This is because there is a short, file-like thorn on the right wing of the cricket, and there is a hard knife-like thorn on the left wing. The left and right wings open and close, rubbing against each other. Vibrate its wings to make a pleasant sound. During the breeding season, male crickets will vibrate their wings more vigorously and sing beautiful songs to find a mate. The king of song among them is the long-jawed cricket. The body length can reach about 20 mm, and the antennae are about 35 mm long. Because the two large teeth protrude forward, it is named long-jawed cricket, commonly known as kes.

In addition to being good at singing, crickets are also very aggressive. Fighting is a competition between male crickets. When crickets meet, they will use their tentacles to identify each other. When two crickets meet, they will inevitably reveal their two big teeth and compete. But when a male and a female meet, it's a different story. The two crickets will be affectionate and affectionate, expressing their admiration for each other.

In ancient times, recreational cricket fights were usually held in pottery or magnetic cricket jars. When the two heroes met, a fierce battle began. First, it flaps its wings and screams violently, firstly to encourage itself, and secondly to destroy the opponent's majesty, and then starts the duel with grinning teeth. He raised his head, kicked his feet, rolled his long tentacles, kept rotating his body, looking for a favorable position, and bravely attacked. After a few rounds, the weak one is dejected and defeated, while the winner holds his head high and proud, asking for credit and reward from his master. The most adept at fighting is the black-headed fly of the family Crickidae, known among the people as the Black-headed General. A good cricket that can both sing and fight well will not only become the glory of cricket fighters, but also become the king of the cricket kingdom. However, when playing with crickets, you must be careful not to get bored playing with them.