978-1-4222-3405-1

“Let me help with this.” Mia came over. She was the reptile expert in the store. “As you may know, crickets and other insects are cold-blooded. Basically, they take on the temperature of their surroundings. Where does your gecko hang out on chilly days, Jesse?” Jesse thought for a minute. “He loves to sit under the heat lamp on top of his rock.” “Exactly! He is soaking up the warmth of the heat lamp. Cold-blooded organisms have no way to regulate their body temperature internally. Reptiles, insects, and other cold-blooded or- ganisms need to seek shade if they are too hot and seek the sun if they are too cold.” Gabriella spoke up. “So, I’m guessing that a warm-blooded organism does have the ability to regulate their temperature, no matter what is going on outside.” “Yep. That’s what happens.” Jesse looked at his bag of squirming crickets again. “What does this all have to do with crick- ets?” “Well, it is a matter of chemistry and temperature,” said Mia. “The chirping noise you hear is actually made by the male crickets. They rub their wings together. One wing has a ridge on it called a ‘scraper’ while the other wing has wrinkles called ‘files.’ The cricket will run the scraper along the files to make that noise. In warm temperatures, the crickets have more energy. This makes them more active and therefore they are noisier.” Gabriella stared at the crickets in the bag. “Why do they do that exactly?” “They are communicating. They may be warning other crickets of danger, or telling another male to stay away, or they may be trying to attract a female. But whatever the reason, the fact that these cold-blooded insects are noisier in the summer explains why many people think of summer evenings when they hear crickets chirp.” Jesse laughed. “It is like a summer evening every day at my house with all these crickets!”

Crickets “sing” a song that unique to each individual species.

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