Field crickets

Smokehound714

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Anyone else culturing native gryllus species?

Gryllus vocalis- "Vocal field-cricket" :



Gryllus lineaticeps "Variable field-cricket" :



Im fascinated by just how different these behave compared to other crickets. They seem to be somewhat intelligent, and dont freak out and jump all over the place like Gryllodes or acheta.


...Not to mention they're beautiful :D
 

pannaking22

Arachnoemperor
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Haven't kept them before, but from what I've seen in the wild, they do seem to be more intelligent than your typical feeder crickets. Very cool and have fun keeping them!
 

kellakk

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How did you tell species in females? From what I understand, the only way to tell species apart (aside from range in certain species) is by using the calls of the males.
 

Smokehound714

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How did you tell species in females? From what I understand, the only way to tell species apart (aside from range in certain species) is by using the calls of the males.
By their calls. The variable field cricket is quite distinct in appearance, the only other similar looking species in this region being the western trilling cricket, which has a long drawn-out continuous call.

A few species CAN be identified by looking, if you know what to look for. The western trilling cricket, for example, which looks similar to the variable field cricket but has much longer wings.

Im sure a disproportionate number of OC species dont have names, so i could be wrong, and could end up having a subspecies of both.


What i REALLY want are some of the giant 2.5" wingless species we came across at Casper's.
 

kellakk

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That's what I meant, I'm guessing you have males of each species that you're identifying them by? And I think the point of it being called the variable field cricket is that it is variable in appearance. So I don't know what you mean there.

I think Dr. David Weissman, the orthopterist at CalAcademy of San Francisco, has done a pretty good job (along with all the other taxonomists) at clearing up the taxonomy of Gryllus in California. He is also the expert on Stenopelmatus, so I think you should talk to him about them as well. I believe he has some papers coming out soon that will clear up their taxonomy as well.

Could those wingless species have been male Gryllus integer? I think in some cases males will be entirely wingless.
 

Tongue Flicker

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They look like the feeder crickets that we have here. I noticed that the US/UK feeder cricket is either white or brown. I can personally attest to their intelligence. They would avoid open areas and the dark areas at the middle of the enclosure coz they know it is a tarantula lol. The bigger males also raise their abdomen up and down using their jumping hind legs and sometimes deter my unsuspectings Ts.
 

Smokehound714

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That's what I meant, I'm guessing you have males of each species that you're identifying them by? And I think the point of it being called the variable field cricket is that it is variable in appearance. So I don't know what you mean there.

I think Dr. David Weissman, the orthopterist at CalAcademy of San Francisco, has done a pretty good job (along with all the other taxonomists) at clearing up the taxonomy of Gryllus in California. He is also the expert on Stenopelmatus, so I think you should talk to him about them as well. I believe he has some papers coming out soon that will clear up their taxonomy as well.

Could those wingless species have been male Gryllus integer? I think in some cases males will be entirely wingless.
The "variable" in the name actually refers to their habit of changing the pitch and duration of their call regardless of temperature.

As for that one specimen we saw, I have no idea. Ive never seen the male counterpart of that one.. just that big female we found, though she was probably wingless due to immaturity, i remember her ovipositor being undeveloped. I remember her being a uniform chocolate brown. For all we know, that wasnt even gryllus, and could be an un-described scaly cricket species, i dunno, haha.

I do actually believe ive read some of Weissman's literature, regarding Stenopelmatus, i do believe he did work with the black dune stenopelmatids. If my memory serves correctly, his studies are actually what made me come to the conclusion that stenopelmatus either requires specific triggers, like the drop in night time temps and rainfall in fall, or simply has a very lengthy period of development as an egg.

tongue flicker said:
They look like the feeder crickets that we have here. I noticed that the US/UK feeder cricket is either white or brown. I can personally attest to their intelligence. They would avoid open areas and the dark areas at the middle of the enclosure coz they know it is a tarantula lol. The bigger males also raise their abdomen up and down using their jumping hind legs and sometimes deter my unsuspectings Ts.
The common feeder in the US/UK is Acheta domestica, which is an asian/european genus of field cricket. Another common feeder is Gryllodes sigillatus, the tropical house cricket, another field cricket species that has established in southern california.

The native US gryllus species are large and can be predatory, younger, smaller specimens are fine as feeders, but the large adults are way too dangerous as feeders for arachnids, IMO. They have a bite force similar to a jerusalem cricket's. Sure, your spider or scorpion is a formidable opponent, but these are alert and agile, and have very strong eyesight.
 
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Dark Raptor

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I've kept european field cricket - Gryllus campestris. They can't be a good feeder because:

-they are teritorial and extremely aggressive
-they dig everywhere they can and prefer humid soil (with all disadvantages of keepeing animals on this type of substrate - mould, mites, ect.)
-they need light / night cycle for normal activity
-they are very loud, much louder than G. bimaculatus, I've recorded this video with their mating song:
[YOUTUBE]-VgikOD5mzo[/YOUTUBE]
-after 3 generations in small, closed population, I've noticed negative inbreeding effects (problems with synthesis of melanin, smaller specimens, deformations ect.)
 

Smokehound714

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I've noticed some species can be extremely friendly with each other. My G. vocalis, for example, don't seem to have the same cannibalism problems. They kinda actually "greet" each other like ants do. It's the males that are territorial, but in this species, even they seem to get along, strongly preferring to compete in song over fighting.

It's amazing how much variation can exist within a single genus..

http://ifasgallery.ifas.ufl.edu/entnem/walker/buzz/466sldw.wav See how neat their song is? It actually sounds like music to me. o_O

And the long-chirp field cricket, which is also common here:

http://ifasgallery.ifas.ufl.edu/entnem/walker/buzz/499sl.wav

THOSE are the most pleasant sounding species, got that classic cricket sound :D
 

Hisserdude

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Sorry to bump an oldish thread, but I just caught a few of these and was wondering, do they need a diapause? Also are there any special care requirements I should be aware of?
Thanks in advance! :)
 

Galapoheros

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I'm raising a gryllus sps but I don't know what the ID. I've had them going for about 3 years now. I also don't know if these need a diapause but there is a big slow down in the winter. I don't know if it's because the temp goes down in that room or, like you said, maybe they need a break. I put a coco fiber brick at one end after it's soaked up a lot of water, then egg cartons on the other end. They spread the coco fiber over time, I just let that happen and the females lay eggs in it. I feed them organic dog food, fishflakes and veggies that are getting old they try to sell fast at the local organic grocery store. They don't die fast like the pet store crickets, not the ones I have.
 

Tenevanica

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I tried keeping Gryllus veletus. I had a large female and some immatures. I ended up with one fat happy female. These will cannibalize.
 

Tenodera

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I also kept veletis and firmus for multiple generations, but never encountered serious cannibalism. Sometimes nymphs would predate other nymphs, especially when they molted. Mortality outside of that was surprisingly low, though. They were WONDERFUL little animals, though. Being territorial they do need lots of space if you want to have multiple males... But that just means you get to design a nicer cage.

Veletis, at least, should have a diapause as a nymph. It can be kept "awake" through the winter, but the nymphs that I kept that way did not grow during the winter and did not thrive.
 

Hisserdude

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Ok, thanks for the advice, I'll probably put mine in the garage in winter. And I'll be sure to give them their space too, thanks! :)
 

Smokehound714

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I've found that giving gryllus stable substrate to permit burrowing helps them play nice. Giving them a big enclosure with ample hiding spots seems to help alot for any crickets in general.
 

Hisserdude

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I've found that giving gryllus stable substrate to permit burrowing helps them play nice. Giving them a big enclosure with ample hiding spots seems to help alot for any crickets in general.
Thanks for the info! :) I already had given them a deep substrate to see if they would burrow, and they did. When the colony gets bigger I will definitely be moving them to a larger container. Mine seem to really like eating the dead leaves I put in their enclosure as hides, so I guess I better get more!
 

Tenevanica

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How did you tell species in females? From what I understand, the only way to tell species apart (aside from range in certain species) is by using the calls of the males.
Look at the appendages on the back end. Males will have two cerci. Females will have two cerci and an ovipositor in between the cerci. The one in the picture is a female.
 

Smokehound714

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Look at the appendages on the back end. Males will have two cerci. Females will have two cerci and an ovipositor in between the cerci. The one in the picture is a female.
Nah he meant as in what species, not gender. we have a whole bunch of gryllus species here, and many are identical. Listening to their songs or examining the male's aedaegus (penis) is the only way to identify a few species with certainty. The variable field cricket is easily ID'd by its song- as the name suggests, the song is variable in rhythm and pitch. Some have a long trilling call with short pauses, etc.
 

Tenevanica

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Nah he meant as in what species, not gender. we have a whole bunch of gryllus species here, and many are identical. Listening to their songs or examining the male's aedaegus (penis) is the only way to identify a few species with certainty. The variable field cricket is easily ID'd by its song- as the name suggests, the song is variable in rhythm and pitch. Some have a long trilling call with short pauses, etc.
Lol, I didn't proofread the comment. All I read was "how do you determine gender." I was wondering what you were going on about different calls and ovipositor length ;)
 
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