Cricket
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Along with grasshoppers and katydids, crickets belong to the insect order Orthoptera.
A variety of Orthoptera species go by the name cricket, however, members of the Family Gryllidae, also known as field crickets, bush crickets, ground crickets and tree crickets, are perhaps the best known.
Most cricket species are best known for their singing ability. In fact, only the males have the special forewings necessary to produce the typical cricket chirp.
Speaking of wings, while crickets have them, they are more a jumping than flying insect. Many entomologists estimate that common house and field crickets can jump up to twenty times their length. A five foot human would have to leap one hundred feet to match that record.
Asian cultures such as China and Japan share a long history of being enamored with crickets. People traditionally kept them as pets in cages or boxes to enjoy their singing or fighting abilities.
© 2004. Patricia A. Michaels