James' Cricket Ice-Cream Tubbery Extraordinaire

[Rick]

The majority of what I feed crickets is leafy greens. They eat the oatmeal substrate too. I have never seen a single fruit fly in there though. I also recall them swarming the dirt to lay their eggs like you did.

 

[jameslongo]

Just move some of the dirt aside and look for eggs. They look like well,eggs. They are fairly large, very thin, elongated oval. You will know when you see them.

Thanks Rick. I'll search for them now. I hope I don't have sterile crix.

 

[jameslongo]

Alright, I've checked my soil over the past few days & could not find the large elongated eggs, as suggested by Rick's photo. What I did find (or at least I thought I found) was small, rounded eggs. I can't be certain if it is actually an egg or not. It looks like the miniature version of a skinless grape. I'll try n get some photos up in the next couple of days to verify with you guys.

This got me thinking that I don't really have A. domesticus at all. I walked into a petstore today & I compared my crickets with their house crickets to find they were dissimilar. Here are some quick pics of the crickets in the container as I could not get one out without them all jumping ship.

Here are 3 what-I-believe-to-be adult females. Notice how they are wingless.

Here's a better pic to show her little nubs for wings.

The soil breeding ground. In the foreground & the left are 2 males. They are brachypterous.

Not so good pic of the female's wing buds (front) but better pic of male (top) with small brown wings that kind of sit like a vest. I know the males are adult because I've seen them chirp with them.

And finally... the tubbery.

So, if they aren't what I thought they were, what species of cricket is this? If it helps at all, I live in Sydney, Australia.

Much appreciated.

 

[Rick]

Not sure what you have but I think the lack of wings means yours are not adult yet however the long ovipositor seems adult like. My current batch are subadults and they look the same with the wingbuds but the ovipositor is very small so maybe yours are a different species and are adult. What is that you have in there? Rocks?

 

[PhilinYuma]

Alright, I've checked my soil over the past few days & could not find the large elongated eggs, as suggested by Rick's photo. What I did find (or at least I thought I found) was small, rounded eggs. I can't be certain if it is actually an egg or not. It looks like the miniature version of a skinless grape. I'll try n get some photos up in the next couple of days to verify with you guys.This got me thinking that I don't really have A. domesticus at all. I walked into a petstore today & I compared my crickets with their house crickets to find they were dissimilar. Here are some quick pics of the crickets in the container as I could not get one out without them all jumping s

So, if they aren't what I thought they were, what species of cricket is this? If it helps at all, I live in Sydney, Australia.

Much appreciated.

James: I'm betting that the "seedless grapes" are eggs.

So what did you find when you compared yours with the ones in the pet store?

Have you received a "cease and desist" order from the Bulla company's lawyers yet?

Most of us in the US aren't too good at identifying Australian crickets, but there is a Forum member who lives in Sidney and recently aged six years "overnight." Perhaps you could p.m. her through the Forum (it won't reveal yr personal EMail addy) and the two of you could hook up and discuss crix!

 

[jameslongo]

Not sure what you have but I think the lack of wings means yours are not adult yet however the long ovipositor seems adult like. My current batch are subadults and they look the same with the wingbuds but the ovipositor is very small so maybe yours are a different species and are adult. What is that you have in there? Rocks?

I know for certain that the males are adult, though I'm 95% sure the females are too. For those who are interested, I'll ask the entomologist at uni tomorrow to classify this unusual species.

The substrate(?) is kitty litter, which has since been knocked to the bottom, & white ornamental gravel (don't tell my dad! ) Not sure why I added the latter. Structural purposes?

James: I'm betting that the "seedless grapes" are eggs.

The problem is that there aren't too many of them. You could well be right. Fingers crossed they're fertile. Conditions here are pretty miserable.

So what did you find when you compared yours with the ones in the pet store?

The wings & coloration were the key differences between mine & the store crickets, (A. domesticus). The wings of my males are short & square-shaped, whereas the store's male crickets' wings were body-length & ended at a tip. Store females had the same wing structure as their males, yet my females have tiny buds. The store crickets were a bit darker than mine but that's probably due to their poorly-maintained habitat.

Have you received a "cease and desist" order from the Bulla company's lawyers yet?Most of us in the US aren't too good at identifying Australian crickets, but there is a Forum member who lives in Sidney and recently aged six years "overnight." Perhaps you could p.m. her through the Forum (it won't reveal yr personal EMail addy) and the two of you could hook up and discuss crix!

Funny you should mention Bulla, Phil. I found my car covered in melting paddle-pops this morning with a drumstick protruding from my exhaust :lol: What is this omen?

Oh, and I'll see if I can't find this Progeria sufferer. She appears learned.

 

[jameslongo]

Well I found out what I have in my cricket enclosure. THEY'RE NOT CRICKETS AT ALL but a rare species of armadillo.

No they're crickets all right. Not Acheta sp. but Gryllodes supplicans (=sigillatus). Their common names include: Tropical House Cricket, Indian House Cricket, and Banded Cricket. They are distributed pretty much world-wide & located in the SE states of the States, from Louisiana to Florida.

 

[Rick]

Well I found out what I have in my cricket enclosure. THEY'RE NOT CRICKETS AT ALL but a rare species of armadillo.No they're crickets all right. Not Acheta sp. but Gryllodes supplicans (=sigillatus). Their common names include: Tropical House Cricket, Indian House Cricket, and Banded Cricket. They are distributed pretty much world-wide & located in the SE states of the States, from Louisiana to Florida.

Don't think I have ever seen them. All the ones around here are big and black.

 

[jameslongo]

Don't think I have ever seen them. All the ones around here are big and black.

i think you fall just a little too far north for there liking. How different is Carolina from Florida?

 

[PhilinYuma]

i think you fall just a little too far north for there liking. How different is Carolina from Florida?

Florida has Disney World! :lol: