Lifecycle
While there are variations in the time, place and seasonality of their lifecycle, they all go through three similar stages. An egg stage, which is, as it sounds. A nymph stage where they resemble wingless versions of their adult selves. An adult stage where they molt into their wings and males begin singing to attract a mate.
Who’s in the program?
With 33 different variations, there’s bound to be a lot of similarity and some wacked out cousins that barely fit the description, but every family is like that to some degree. To keep it simple, if its antennae are longer than its body and it’s brown or black, it’s probably a cricket. If its antennae are shorter than its body and it’s as likely to fly as jump, it’s likely a grasshopper. And if it’s doing its best to look like a leaf and doing a great job at it, it’s probably a katydid.
They all have jaws and chew their food. And they drag one of their body parts against the other to make their music. Grasshoppers use their hind leg and their wing.
Crickets and katydids rub the front edge of one wing against the bottom of the other front wing in a process called “stridulating.”
You typically don’t have to go too far to hear them, but if you want the full sound experience, head for the edge of a local prairie or meadow. The combination of tall grasses, mature trees and understory will provide that summer bug music fest to its fullest.
The grasshoppers
The opening act of the day are the grasshoppers, starting their sounds in the morning and continuing through the day. They have a deeper (relatively speaking) and raspier sound than the other three. Remember, they’re the one that uses a leg and wing to make their song.
The crickets
Next up are the crickets. Well, that’s not necessarily true. Crickets often don’t care what time it is. They can chirp 24/7, but you’ll know them by a higher-pitched sound with a definitive start and stop sound they make with their wings. They will also stop chirping if they sense danger or something different in their immediate presence.
That’s why they were used as “watchdogs” in many Asian countries and were considered good luck. When the chirping stops, something is up.
Headlining: The katydids
Last up are the katydids. They create their distinctive one-hit wonder “katy did … katy didn’t” chorus around nightfall and often continue up to and past last call in Ohio. It can get loud as multiple males join in and synchronize their instruments.
Fun fact: because parts of Florida stay temperate, you can hear katydids all year long.
Temperature truth tellers
Crickets and katydids have another unique trick up their sleeve. The frequency of their chirping is directly correlated to the temperature at that time. As it gets warmer, the frequency increases as well. You can use the following formulas to determine the temperature in Fahrenheit with a watch or someone else to keep time.
Field Crickets: Count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 40.
Katydids: Count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 37.
Check your averages from your observations against WHIO Chief Meteorologist Austin Chaney’s statements and let me know how it goes.
Devin Meister is a local outdoors and wildlife enthusiast and has a blog called “Average Guy Outdoors.” He is an Ohio University graduate. Reach him at meister.devin@gmail.com.
RESOURCES
Sounds and visuals of the three: youtube.com/watch?v=jWx1wPKAkpc
Grasshoppers and crickets of Ohio: insectidentification.org
Listening to insects: listeningtoinsects.com/crickets
MORE ONLINE
Read more of Devin Meister’s columns at daytondailynews.com, springfieldnewssun.com and journal-news.com. Search “Average Guy Outdoors.”
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