How grasshoppers make sounds. The melodic sound of a cricket, or the musical abilities of an insect Why grasshoppers

Summer evening It’s so nice to listen to the trill of insects in the grass. They do not stop playing music until dawn, which allows you to thoroughly enjoy the melody. To understand the etiology and causes of these sounds, it is necessary to consider the simple process that crickets do to create such a melody.

Where does sound come from?

The answer to the question of how a cricket makes sounds lies in its structure. Grasshoppers chirp according to the same principle, but the apparatus for producing sounds is more advanced in representatives of the cricket family. The sound of the acoustic apparatus of crickets is more diverse and polygamous than that of grasshoppers.

The sound quality and volume are directly affected by the ambient temperature. Insects are classified as heat-loving, and if the thermometer drops below +21 degrees, they hibernate.

Note!

Roast summer night you can observe the most active and intense sound of cricket music.

The acoustic apparatus that makes a cricket chirp is found only in representatives of the strong half of insects. It is not for nothing that the chirping of a cricket resembles the sound of a violin, since it has a special vein under its wings. It is its beating against the fender liners that helps produce melodic sounds. From the point of view of the correct sound, there is no difference in whether crickets are crickets or chirps. Therefore, both words are equally applicable to representatives of the order Orthoptera.

Causes of chirping

The main reason why you can hear crickets chirping is due to their breeding habits. In this way, a sexually mature male tries to attract a female. Its rubbing can continue from dawn to dusk until the cry is heard. The success of the process will largely depend on the strength of the male’s sound; the more energetic, melodic and sonorous he is, the greater the chance of attracting a female.

You can hear a cricket sing not only if it wants to reproduce. Insects lead an isolated lifestyle and occupy several square centimeters. The site is carefully guarded by its owner and does not allow guests except the female. He walks around his property several times a day and checks the integrity of the territory.

Interesting!

The chirping is intended to scare away uninvited guests and warn about the belligerent attitude of the owner of the site.

A person enjoys listening to crickets, regardless of the reason for these sounds. Their trill is as melodious as the singing of birds, so some even prefer to breed representatives of Orthoptera at home. This is not difficult to do, and optimism is fueled by the fact that in captivity singers can chirp not only at night, but also during the day.

When they chirp

In most cases, you can only hear a cricket chirping at night. That's when the musicians come out of their holes. Although in country fields you can enjoy the trill at any time of the day. During mating games insects can play music both day and night. Silencing an Orthoptera is very easy. He stops singing as soon as he senses danger. Therefore, at the slightest approach to him, the male hides in a hole.

Interesting!

The peculiarities of this behavior explain why crickets chirp at night. After all, it is at this time that they can calmly invite a female and not be afraid of being noticed by humans or animals.

The simplicity of the grasshopper's acoustic organ prevents them from chirping at night. At this time, dew falls in the grass and the wet organ is not able to emit trills. The sound of the green insect can only be heard during the daytime.

In Japan, little musicians are especially respected. They are bred specifically to be able to listen to melodious ringing at any time.

On a short summer night, a chirping sound can be heard far away. field cricket. You can sneak up to the singer three steps, but it is difficult to determine from which place the chirping is heard. Another step and the invisible singer falls silent, diving into the hole.

Together with grasshoppers, mole crickets, locusts, stick insects and cockroaches, crickets belong to the order Orthoptera. This systematic group of insects appeared on Earth about 300 million years ago. Their metamorphosis is incomplete: egg, larva, nymph (older larva) and imago (adult insect). There is no stationary pupal stage, as in, say, beetles and butterflies.

In the East, crickets and cicadas were kept indoors for their singing, just like birds. And the Chinese, Malays and Thais love to watch crickets fight. This activity turned into a kind of sport for them. A female and two males are released onto the battlefield. The winner is the cricket that tries to crawl away, and the winner is the one “remaining in the arena.”

There are 2,300 known species of crickets. They live mainly in the tropics and subtropics. About 50 species are found in our country; the most famous of them are field and brownie. It is the latter’s song that sounds behind the stove in old wooden houses.

The last pair of legs of these insects are modified and often enlarged for jumping. Crickets have wings and use them to sing, and their ears are located in the shins of their front legs. The female has a long ovipositor at the end of her body, with which she bores into the soil to lay eggs. The body of crickets is covered with a chitinous shell, which reduces moisture loss in the body and protects the insect from mechanical damage.

Hobbyists keep crickets to listen to their singing, which sounds no worse than a bird's song. Only the male sings: raising his elytra, he quickly, quickly rubs them against each other. If the singer is not disturbed, his song sounds from dawn to dusk. In captivity, crickets sing during the day.

The territory of each cricket occupies several tens of square centimeters, and the owner of the site regularly walks around his property to drive away strangers.

If two males meet nose to nose, a fight cannot be avoided. Dueling crickets first of all strive to bite off the enemy's antennae, or even paws. The fight may end in the death of one of them. Then the winner eats the loser. But usually a bitten mustache is enough to stop the fight.

The one who loses his mustache immediately flees from someone else's territory. The fact is that crickets without whiskers cannot occupy the highest places in the cricket hierarchy. Entomological scientists have proven this through various experiments. For example, they covered the eyes of a dominant cricket. He himself did not see the opponents, but the other crickets were still afraid of him. Crickets with half-shortened antennae and a small card on the neck (to make them harder to recognize) maintained their ranking position. But crickets without antennae at all turned into outcasts that everyone despised.

The songs of crickets are different not only different types, but also depend on other circumstances. Young males do not sing very musically; they are still learning, imitating their elders. When threatening an opponent, males tut sharply, which is perceived by humans as an annoying chirping. The most complex and pleasant song in front of the female. It sounds quiet but melodious and includes ringing and buzzing trills. In addition, the male performs a mating dance, spins around in front of the female, and taps her on the back with his antennae. Several females live in the territory of one male, and he vigilantly watches them, not letting them leave the boundaries of the territory. But sometimes females move from male to male, attracted by a special high-pitched song designed to lure other females and return their own.

Crickets are kept in small terrariums with shelter. You can put moss, soil, and twigs here. Females are most willing to lay eggs in wet coconut shavings. Crickets are heterovorous: they are fed with vegetables, fruits, pieces of white bread, rolled oats and fish food, dried hamarus or daphnia; In addition, crickets eat hard-boiled eggs.

The optimal temperature for keeping insects is 31-32 C.

During her life, one female can lay up to 600 eggs. Young crickets emerge after about a month, and after three months last time moult, turning into adults. In the first hours after molting, the new adult has a bizarre appearance: it carries a white train of soft wings on top, sometimes they are crumpled and puffy on the back. He dries them in the light until they harden and darken. It will take several more days before the cricket becomes sexually mature and sings its first song.

The best warblers are Indian (palm) and two-spotted crickets.

Grasshopper - arthropod insect, belongs to the superorder New-winged insects, the order Orthoptera, the suborder Long-whiskered Orthoptera, the superfamily grasshoppers (lat. Tettigonioidea).

The Russian word “grasshopper” is considered a diminutive of the word “smith”. But, most likely, it has nothing to do with the forge, but comes from the Old Russian “izok”, meaning “June”. Almost 7 thousand known species grasshoppers live on all continents except Antarctica. Due to such diversity, even an experienced entomologist cannot always determine the species identity of a particular individual.

The complex hearing apparatus, that is, the grasshopper's ears, is located on the shins of the insect's front legs. Thus, we can say that the grasshopper hears with its feet. The oval membranes that are located on both sides of the lower leg act as eardrums. In some species of grasshoppers, the membranes are open, in others they are closed with special caps. The structure of the hearing aid consists of nerve endings, muscles, and sensory cells. The structure also includes 2 branches of the trachea, which approach the eardrums.

Grasshoppers have noticeable sexual dimorphism: females are much larger than males and have a sickle-shaped or straight, arrow-like ovipositor. The lifespan of a grasshopper, including the egg stage, is only one season.

and chestnuts), and some of them are noted as serious agricultural pests. Unlike the same related locusts, which eat farmers' crops, grasshoppers are more beneficial. For example, they help get rid of fields that have taken a fancy to them.

In conditions of autonomous maintenance and absence nutrients grasshoppers have even been seen engaging in cannibalism, that is, eating their own kind. A simple experiment showed that if you put several of these insects in a closed jar and leave them without food for a couple of days, the group will eventually suffer losses among their relatives.

It may seem surprising, but if the grasshopper does not receive its “dose” of protein and salts from ordinary food, then it does not disdain to feed on feces and carrion, and also eats its weaker relatives with appetite.