Interesting Insects

Jiminy Cricket figurine found online at Disney.com

Many of the insects discussed in Evan's Life on a Little-Known Planet are very interesting, while others simply are not. One that I found very interesting were the crickets discussed in Chapter 5. Many times I have heard crickets chirping in my life, and I never associate this sound with anything other than my good pal Jiminy Cricket. It was nice to learn new information about these interesting creatures. For example, it really hit me that these amazing sounds they produce come from them rubbing their wings over the other. I always knew that but I really imagined it on an actual cricket after reading this, rather than picturing Jiminy with an awkward instrument that produced these sounds that fill my summer nights. I also learned that these animals are ambidextrous in how they produce their music, by either overlaying the right wing on to the left, or vice versa. I never have really associated ambidexterity with any creature other than a human before. It also discussed how katydids are not ambidextrous and if they are right-winged they are unable to sing at all due to the lack of development of the right wing. I learned of all the many songs that males have in their arsenal and what they are used for, along with the fact that crickets ears are located as disks near their front leg joints. I was also introduced to the idea that theoretically you can tell the termperature by listening to crickets songs, and also that a katydid sang along with the clicking of a typewriter. All of this stuff was not stuff I was expecting to find out and was very cool information to learn. 

The crickets mating instincts were also discussed in this chapter. I learned that male crickets spend more time in one stationary place and that they find female crickets to mate with by playing their songs. The females move around more and seek out the males in order for mating to occur. I read that a blinded female can find a male cricket just as well as a female that can see, showing that sight and smell are not involved in the behaviors expressed by the female when in pursuit for the male cricket. And I finally learned that the calling songs are what keep the crickets from interbreeding with crickets of different species. A song of one species in a certain temperature will never match the same call of another species in the same temperature. 

Photo found here

The most interesting thing I learned from this chapter involved the Chinese and the cricket fighting they would act in. They came up with special diets, rules tournaments to battle male crickets against one another. I have heard of cricket fighting and even dog fighting, but I would have never imagined cricket fighting to be a popular sport in which money was exchanged and won. It also showed how crickets were a sign of luck or of much importance to the Chinese. I think a good thing that would be interesting to add to the book might be to elaborate more upon the fact that crickets were considered very good luck and were really worn around China everyday by the people. I learned this through the Disney movie Mulan, which I am a total fan of (I also always wondered why she was given a cricket "just for luck" to visit the matchmaker... I guess now I know!). 

Mulan's "Honor To Us All' featuring The Lucky Cricket