Nothing introduces late summer and fall like the chirping of crickets. Did you know that the male cricket rubs his wings together (called “stridulation”) to make that chirping sound. The wings of most cricket species in Indiana are not made for flying and are only used for creating a mating song to call in the females for breeding and continuation of the species.
Indiana is home to 5 species of crickets. Three are of most interest to homeowners. The field cricket and house cricket are very similar with a major exception of color. The field cricket is very dark brown to black while the house cricket is brown to light brown in color. These two species of crickets give us the music of the night but can be active at anytime of day.
Another major cricket species that do not chirp is the camel cricket sometimes called “spicket” or Spider cricket” and are commonly found in high moisture areas like crawlspaces and basements. Folklore tells us that having a singing cricket in the house is good luck, but it may drive some a bit crazy by its incessant chirping.
It is said that one can tell the temperature by counting the number of cricket chirps in 15 seconds and add 40. Many times, this will result in the degrees in Fahrenheit. This method is not exactly scientific because crickets generally do not chirp in temperatures less that 55 degrees or above 100 degrees, and chirping is affected by age, mating success, hunger or competition with other males.