Friday, November 7, 2008

Fall Field Cricket video

Big and glossy black, Fall Field Crickets, Gryllus pennsylvanicus, emit the classic chirp, chirp, chirp, that many people associate with crickets. In general, this may be the most recognized North American insect sound.

But how do they do it? I shot the video below last weekend, and you can clearly see the male cricket doing his thing. He tents his wings up over his back, and rapidly rubs them together in a process known as stridulation. The result is the pleasing chirps that we all are familiar with.

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