Crickets are insects that belong to the order Orthoptera. Crickets are an important part of the ecosystem as they help in the decomposition of plant material. They are also an important food source for other animals such as small owls, spiders, birds, mice, shrews, snakes, frogs, raccoons, and opossums.

Crickets are usually brown or black in color, have antennae as long as the distance from the head to the end of the abdomen, and have two types of wings: the front ones that cover almost the entire abdomen and the back ones that are folded and hidden underneath. the front wings. However, some species of crickets may not have wings.

There are many species of crickets: house crickets, field crickets, ground crickets, cave crickets, mole crickets, snowy tree crickets, and mole crickets. Crickets live outdoors in open spaces such as meadows, pastures, and paths. In winter, they burrow under rocks or logs or inside buildings to escape the cold. They are nocturnal and are very active at night. Crickets are omnivores, feeding on just about anything, usually organic materials, decaying plants, grass, fruit, seedlings, fungi, and even meat.

Man has always been fascinated by crickets. Some people even have crickets for farts. The most interesting thing about crickets is the sound they make. They have a unique chirping sound that many people find attractive. This chirp is actually a form of communication. Crickets make many different types of sounds depending on the purpose: a call note indicating defense of their territory, an aggressive chirp symbolizing other male intruders to move away, and a quieter call announcing their presence to deaf females. Female crickets are deaf and can identify males by the scent emanating from under the male’s wings. Crickets produce the sound by rubbing their front wings together. In fact, crickets got their name from the French word “Criquer,” which means little squeaker.

Crickets are farmed and used as bait for fish and as food for some pets. The Chinese also use crickets in medicine. They are popularly used as a sport such as cockfighting. Crickets are also believed to bring luck. Crickets are very easy to breed. However, crickets can be a real pest, especially as the chirping can become very irritating. Crickets also cause damage to plants, grain crop seeds, stored tubers and fruits, and packinghouse twine. When they enter the house, they can damage clothing, furniture upholstery, curtains, etc. as they are very fond of cotton, silk, wool and even rayon and nylon. They also eat paper products.

Crickets can be controlled using some insecticides such as bendiocarb (Ficam D), chlorpyrifos (Dursban, Duration, Empire, and Engage), diatomaceous earth (Answer), propoxur (Baygon), diazinon, pyrethrins, or resmethrin. Drione or boric acid and other powder products can be used to treat wall voids and crawl spaces. Granular baits like Larvalur or Niban can also be used indoors and outdoors. Some common outdoor insecticides that can be used are; cyfluthrin (Tempo), cypermethrin (Demon, Cynoff, Cyper-Active), Ficam W or Plus, propetamphos (Safrotin), lambdacyhalothrin (Commadore), or permethrin (Dragnet, Flee).