Man has always been fascinated by crickets. Some people even have crickets as pets. The most interesting thing about crickets is the sound they make. In fact, crickets have gained their name from the French word “Criquer”, which means little creaker. They have a unique chirp which many people find attractive. This chirp is actually a way of communication used by crickets.

Crickets make many different kinds of sounds depending on the purpose: a calling note indicating that defense of their territory, an aggressive chirp symbolizing other male intruders to move away, and a quieter call which announces their presence to deaf females. Female crickets are deaf and they can identify males from the smell that emanates from under the wings of the male.

Crickets produce these sounds by rubbing their forewings against each other. They rub a sharp edge of their fore wing (scraper) against a file like ridge (file) on the other forewing to produce a chirping sound. Each wing has a scraper and file, and the cricket uses both the wings alternately. This method of chirping is scientifically known as stridulation. The frequency of the chirps differs on the basis of the temperature. It is faster at higher temperatures. Number of chirps can range from 4 or 5 per second to even 200 per second. The wing surface also causes the chirp sound to be amplified. Some chirps have such high frequencies that humans cannot hear them.

Cricket sounds are mostly heard in summers and on warm evenings. Crickets do not chirp in the winter because of the cold. There is a method to calculate the temperature based on the number of chirps: Temperature=50+ (Number of chirps per minute-40)/4

Each species of cricket has a unique sound. Only the females of that species can identify and respond to that sound. Some people enjoy cricket sound while some feel annoyed by them.