The chirping songs of the crickets are among the most pleasant sounds of summer and fall. There are many different kinds of crickets. Not all of them can produce sound, but when they do, it is the adult male that produces sound by rubbing his wings together. The male cricket uses sound to attract females, or sometimes to sound an alarm when he is disturbed.
In some Asian countries crickets are kept in small cages in homes where they are prized for their cheerful songs. However, when crickets enter buildings uninvited, many people find those pleasant sounds annoying, and sometimes, crickets can damage a wide variety of materials like cotton, wool, silk, and fur.
(Teleogryllus commodus)
Identification
The Black Field Cricket is jet black. During the day, it hides in vegetation or cracks in the soil and comes out at night to feed, the males sings at night making a sound by rubbing his wings together.
Size: 2cm - 4cm
Habitat: urban areas, forests and heath.
Food: decaying plant material and insect remains
Breeding: The Black Field Cricket female lays about 2,000 eggs during her short life span of only a few months.
Range: throughout Australia.
( Lepidogryllus sp )
Adult body colour ranges from black to yellowish brown; front wings can have orange markings. Eggs are deposited singly in damp soil; females can lay 150 to 400 eggs.
Development
Development takes 78 to 93 days; there are eight to nine nymph stages. Adults live for about two months.
Food
Food is plant material, but indoors they damage fabrics, such as cotton, wool, silk, and fur. There are one or two generations per year, and they overwinter in the egg stage.
Habits
These crickets are most abundant in the fall when adults gather at structures, attracted to lights or the sunlight heat retained by the structures during the day.
(Gryllotalpa brachyptera)
Identification
Gryllotalpa is a genus of insect known by the common known of Mole Cricket. They area stocky insect with cylindrical body and strong forelegs designed for digging. They do not have strong hindlegs for jumping like typical grasshoppers and crickets (order Orthoptera). The insect is brown with paler underside. The adult insect has wings but they do not fly much, as the insect spends most of its time under the ground. It is sometimes seen crawling on the ground at night.
They are often seen on sidewalks, driveways, around swimming pools, and are attracted to lights.
Size: about 4cm
Habitat
lives underground in range of habitats in bushland, farmland, parkland and suburban areas Mole crickets are seldom seen, because, like moles, they stay underground most of the time.
Food
Mole crickets prefer sandy soil and are active at night. When the soil is moist, Mole crickets can tunnel beneath the surface to 20 feet per night looking for insects and earthworms as a food source. The Tawny mole cricket feed on plants, damaging roots, stems and tubers.
Breeding
The female lays eggs underground. The eggs hatch into nymphs which moult several times before becoming an adult cricket
The nymphs can become very numerous and cause great damage to your grass during the warm summer months.
Experts in cricket extermination in Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong – Redknight
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