Data sheet crickets
Latin name:
Acheta domesticus
Origin:
East Asia, Mediterranean, Central Europe
Size:
between 1.6 and 2.5 cm
age expectation:
up to 3 months
Breed:
suitable for beginners
Lining:
Suitable for reptiles, amphibians, birds Danny Steaven, Acheta-domesticus035, CC BY 1.0
General information
Crickets are among them real crickets. They carry long antennae and have a sturdy body, rounded rump, and strong and long hind legs.
The body of crickets has one yellow-brown coloring, there are dark patterns on the head and neck. The house crickets visually reminiscent of grasshoppersbut their coloring is not green and their jumping legs are less powerful.
Male house crickets reach one Body length between 1.6 and 2.5 centimeters. In contrast to the males, the females have a laying ear on their abdomen, with which they deposit their eggs in the ground. This additional body part makes them almost 1.5 centimeters longer.
The Males are by acoustic noises recognizable because they chirp loudlywhen they are sexually mature. The chirping is especially audible in the evening and at night.
Crickets own though 4 wings, but they rarely fly. They prefer to move by hopping or running because their powerful jumping legs allow them to do so Jumps of 30 centimeters and more.
Behave
crickets are spread all over the world and particularly like to live in the vicinity of housing estates. They therefore carry the additional name house crickets.
The insects are nocturnal and light-shy creatures. They seek hiding spots during the day, but are also sometimes active in darker, shady places. house cricket eat plants and animals. They get most of their water from their food, which is why they prefer water-rich food. They like to eat too waste, carrion and food.
attitude
Are for cricket keeping Fauna boxes for feeding insects or aquariums suitable. Removing the crickets from the boxes is particularly easy.
The containers should always well closed be, since the agile animals escape quickly. for one good air circulation the closed lid may have a hole that is secured with some gauze to prevent breakouts.
Crickets hardly care about lighting, but they want to 25°C live and like one moderate humidity. Room temperature is enough for them at night. In this way, keeping crickets succeeds without any problems
house crickets should not kept in their transport container become. One is enough for 500 adult animals Fauna box with the minimum dimensions 50 × 30 × 30 centimeters.
The container requires one weekly cleaning. This means that there are no bad smells and the insects remain of high quality for feeding. The optimal substrate for crickets consists of wood chips or sand.
The insects like hiding spots made out of crumpled paper or cardboard rolls. They are grateful for a feeding vessel. This is how you find escaped crickets again
The house crickets jump up and are very lively. The loud chirping noises of the male house crickets quickly get on your nerves. Therefore, care should be taken when cleaning the container, removing or feeding.
If one of the animals escapes, they can lured with double-sided tape, sticky traps, a heating pad and a piece of apple become. The nocturnal insects are sometimes in the dark searching the ground with a flashlight found.
breed
Also Beginners can breed house crickets without any problems. The insects are able to reproduce throughout the year.
Adult female house crickets live about 10 weeks. You lay in this period between 200 and 300 cricket eggs. These are very small and white.
process of propagation
After mating, the females lay their eggs. For that you need a Substrate that consists of sawdust, moist vegetables or soil can exist. This substrate is placed in suitable egg-laying containers, such as rectangular boxes.
Pull the eggs after 7 days into a breeding vessel. This should be as big as the fauna box of the house crickets, offer a sandy bottom and hiding places. The egg-laying container still needs moisture.
The house cricket larvae hatch depending on the temperature after 10 days to 2 months. They hatch particularly quickly at 35 °C and hatching takes the longest at 15 °C. The larvae go through around 10 moults in the next 2 to 9 months.
The duration of development also depends on the temperature and the keeping conditions. After this time, the house crickets are fully grown and sexually mature.
Have in a sufficiently large container around 1,000 house cricket larvae or 500 adult house crickets Place. The container can be a well-closing terrarium or a plastic fauna box. The floor consists of sand or sawdust and an opening with gauze ensures a good supply of oxygen.
for one undisturbed development of the larvae additional rearing containers are required. The laying substrate together with the eggs that have been laid go into the rearing container, which is filled with some sand. Egg boxes or cardboard rolls serve as hiding places. If house crickets have no place to retreat, cricket larvae decimate themselvesbecause then they tend to cannibalism.
particularities
Crickets turn the stridulation at. By rubbing the wings together make sounds to communicate with other crickets. The right wing of the house cricket has a rough and finely toothed vein, the left wing has the so-called shrill edge. At the Rubbing said wings together swing the little teeth. This is how they arise soft chirping noiseswhich is amplified by the wing membrane, making the noise even more widely audible is.
fodder and feeding
lining
like house crickets vegetable as well as animal lining. Although they are feeder insects, they also need good nutrition, which is best from wet and dry food consists. If the house crickets get high-quality food, the quality of the insects for terrarium residents will be all the better.
As a good dry food are suitable wheat germ or oatmeal. Pet stores also sell house cricket food. Cucumbers, apples or carrots are good moist foodswhich provide the crickets with liquid and vitamins. Herbs they also like to eat.
It is sufficient if the house crickets feed every second or third day receive. Leftovers are to be disposed of as soon as possible, because crickets value a hygienic environment.
feeding
crickets are a favorite food for all insectivores, which provides them with minerals and vitamins. Also small reptiles or amphibians like to catch live house crickets.
The insects should not every day on the nutrition plan because the energy requirements of amphibians and reptiles are lower than those of mammals. Uneaten house crickets are to be removed.
Also fledglings like to eat crickets. Above all, swifts, which are not so easy to care for, like the insects very much. The birds need animal protein for healthy development and their plumage. House crickets provide the proteins and are easy to obtain and handle.
Other questions
Where can I get house crickets if I don’t want to collect or breed them myself?
There are crickets in the pet shop and e-commerce. There they are, depending on their appetite, the terrarium animal in different stages of development and package sizes available.
When do crickets start their chirping?
Male crickets go in the mating season from April to June to a place near their burrows. There they chirp at dawn until night.