Why Do Crickets Chirp? These Reasons Will Simply Amaze You!, Animal Sake

Chirping is an essential part of a cricket's communication. Although the sound is very common (especially in rural areas) very few people actually know the reason behind it. In this article, we'll look at how and why crickets chirp, and what all that noise is really saying.

How Crickets Chirp

Not all species of crickets can chirp. In the species that do, only males are capable of making these sounds. It is a common misconception that crickets use their legs to chirp. Actually, they use their wings. The sides of their wings have a grooved texture, with a jagged edge sitting above the grooves. When those grooved wing surfaces are rubbed against each other, the familiar chirping sound is produced. This action is called stridulation.

Close-up of a cricket wing surface showing the grooved ridges and jagged file edge used for stridulation — The ridged wing surface a cricket scrapes to produce sound, each groove acts like a tiny pick on a comb.

This music can be produced with either wing, but research shows that most males prefer to use their right wing over the left. Female crickets do not chirp at all, because they do not have the same wing anatomy.

Why Do Crickets Chirp?

Crickets are usually heard chirping at night because they are largely nocturnal. You may also hear them during the day, but those instances are much rarer. The chirping sound serves several very different purposes.

Mating Song

Male crickets primarily chirp to create mating calls. Loud chirps from the males at night help females locate them. This is followed by a softer courtship song, after which mating begins. Once mating is complete, the male sings another song to keep the female nearby and to discourage her from mating with another male.

Similar to birds, the male cricket serenades the female, and the best chirper usually wins. Studies have shown that female crickets prefer fast, high-pitched chirps from younger males rather than the slow, low-pitched chirps of older ones. There are around 900 species of crickets, yet females can identify the chirp of males from their own species among all the others.

It is also interesting to note that male crickets dig underground shelters with megaphone-like entrances, which magnify and spread the song to farther distances.

Territorial Warnings

When warning other males to leave their territory, crickets use a different tone and frequency of chirping compared to their mating call. This is a good strategy, as crickets prefer to avoid physical fights whenever possible.

Distracting Predators

Being so loud comes at a cost. Predators can often home in on the sound and catch the crickets, one reason why crickets chirp much less often during the day. To keep predators at bay at night, crickets have developed a remarkable ability of ventriloquism: they can make their chirps seem to come from somewhere else entirely.

Crickets can chirp at volumes of over 100 decibels. Sounds this loud can be used to startle or distract predators, giving the cricket time to escape. The calls are also used to warn nearby crickets of approaching danger.

Cricket Chirp Challenge Quiz!

5 quick questions. How much do you really know about cricket chirping?

Why Do Crickets Chirp More at Higher Temperatures?

It has been observed that crickets chirp faster on warm nights than on cold ones. You are almost certain to hear cricket calls in summer, and very unlikely to hear them in winter. Why does this happen?

The key is that crickets are cold-blooded. This means they become more active as the temperature rises, which lets them rub their wings together more often. In controlled settings, researchers found that crickets chirp seven times more for every one degree Celsius increase in temperature.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do crickets make their chirping sound?

By rubbing the grooved sides of their wings together, a process called stridulation.

Why do crickets chirp louder in warm weather?

Crickets are cold-blooded, so warmer temperatures make them more active. They chirp seven times more for every 1°C rise in temperature.

Do female crickets chirp?

No, only male crickets chirp, because females don't have the same wing anatomy needed for stridulation.

What is Ormia ochracea?

A small parasitic fly attracted to cricket chirps. It places larvae on chirping males; the larvae feed inside the cricket for 7-10 days before killing it.

This led to a useful formula: count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 37, the result is the approximate temperature in Fahrenheit. This formula is not completely reliable, however. Crickets stop singing in temperatures below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and the original study was done exclusively on the snow tree cricket. The chirp rate of a common field cricket also depends on other factors, such as the cricket's age and whether it has mated successfully.

Chirping Attracts Parasites

Chirping is essential for finding a mate, but the sound also carries a hidden danger. Small parasitic flies called Ormia ochracea are attracted by the chirping sound. The flies place their larvae directly on male crickets; the larvae then burrow into the cricket's body. They feed on the cricket's organs for 7-10 days before tearing their way out, killing the unfortunate cricket in the process.

Ormia ochracea, a small parasitic fly that homes in on cricket chirps to deposit its larvae — *Ormia ochracea*, the parasitic fly that turns a cricket's love song into a death sentence.

To counter this threat, some cricket species have evolved with groove-less wings, which prevents them from making any sound at all. These silent crickets move around more actively and use pheromones to locate mates instead. Other species simply avoid singing during the fall (the season when Ormia ochracea flies are most active) and save their songs for springtime. Even female crickets become more hesitant to mate in the fall, in an effort to avoid contact with parasites.

This was some fascinating information on crickets' chirping. These insects are fun to study, and you might even want to keep some as pets, especially if you enjoy listening to their melodies.

Term	What it means
Stridulation	The act of making sound by rubbing body parts together. Crickets stridulate by scraping the grooved edges of their wings.
Nocturnal	Active mainly at night. Most cricket chirping happens after dark because crickets are nocturnal insects.
Pheromones	Chemical signals animals release to communicate with each other. Silent crickets use pheromones instead of chirping to attract mates.
Ventriloquism	Making your voice or sound seem to come from a different direction. Crickets use this trick to confuse predators trying to locate them by sound.
Cold-blooded	Unable to regulate body temperature internally; body temperature changes with the surroundings. This is why crickets chirp faster when it is warmer.
Ormia ochracea	A small parasitic fly that homes in on cricket chirps to lay its larvae. The larvae kill the cricket from the inside over 7-10 days.

Why Do Crickets Chirp? These Reasons Will Simply Amaze You!

How Crickets Chirp