Anyone ever attmepted to interbreed house crickets with field crickets?

[LilyHasAZoo]

Am I the only one that really gets twisted up about you guys letting domestic/farm raise crickets go in you local ecosystems?

I get what you mean, I for one don`t think it is a good idea to let breeding crickets go, occasionally I get one escape artist that might get out of my house and go outside, but I never let them go. They would take food and mess up the ecosystem in your local area.

 

[Toxoderidae]

I get what you mean, I for one don`t think it is a good idea to let breeding crickets go, occasionally I get one escape artist that might get out of my house and go outside, but I never let them go. They would take food and mess up the ecosystem in your local area.

While Travis is still here and posts, why did you reply directly addressing him? This thread is from 2013.

 

[mascondante]

Seems this has been upgraded from impossible to plausible reading the thread. If no one has put serious effort into it I'll try to find some field crickets and see if I can get lucky come spring time.

 

[Jacob Ma]

Seems this has been upgraded from impossible to plausible reading the thread. If no one has put serious effort into it I'll try to find some field crickets and see if I can get lucky come spring time.

But you can't hybridize them with just breeding them together. Not only is it because they are in two different genera, but they come from two different parts of the world and there are many other genera of field crickets out there. IF they could hybridize that easily, then there would be a lot more hybrids out there in the wild between different genera. Yes, house crickets can survive on their own in the wild of the eastern US, but no, they do not produce viable offspring with the native species. Hybridizing is not necessarily profitable either, as even if they would produce a living offspring(s) it would not be able to produce offspring itself, even with its own "kind".

Most of the people who have claimed that they've seen a so-called "hybrid" between the two species have no idea that there are more than one species of field cricket indigenous to the US, and they don't all come in one color/variation. One cannot take any random species from the wild without taking any in-depth measures, and claim that they have created/discovered a new species.

 

[Tenodera]

As Vulgaris said earlier, the thing with crickets is that the whole purpose of the songs is to prevent hybridization. Females know that males which don't sing right aren't of the same species, and so there is a pre-mating barrier to interbreeding.

 

[Cyncrashnburn]

Now is the time when Field crickets are mature, so I decided to put a male field cricket in with a bunch of virgin female house crickets, and then a male house cricket with 2 virgin female field crickets, whom I caught as last instar before molting to adult. I lined the 2 tanks with soil, food, and paper towel rolls.

The male field cricket was highly aggressive to the house females, trying to bite their legs off, so I let him and the females go outside. However, the male house cricket was having some luck with the field females. At first they tried to kick him away, but within a few hours I witnessed him mate with a female and saw the sperm transfer! I waited to make sure it was not aborted, and it was not.

I then released the non mated field female, and house male, and kept the mated field female for a week since at first she would not lay her eggs. Finally she layed the eggs, and I let her go after a while back outside.

I waited a few weeks but nothing came of the eggs, but my soil had dried out a bit so mabye it was my error?

 

[Cyncrashnburn]

Last fall I caught 3 males and only 1 female. They were very small when I got them. They lived for about 4 months and the female laid eggs which hatched before the mature crickets died. I now have a new generation doing well. The reason I was interested is that I found the house crickets do not handle cooler temps very well but the field crickets are more hardier. So this is why I was wondering if any one had crossbred them.

 

[Introvertebrate]

I'm not sure how cold winters get in Enderby, but field crickets in my neck of the woods require an annual 'hibernation period' at some stage of their life cycle, be it egg or cricket. They won't proliferate indefinitely if you don't subject them to that somehow. Tropical crickets don't require hibernation or diapause. That's why tropical species are generally preferred among hobbyists.

 

[Cyncrashnburn]

Are winters very lately but it has been as low as -35C. I hadn't thought of that as so far it doesn't it hasn't been an issue.

 

[MoranDisciple]

Is that a field cricket setup? Explain...

 

[Introvertebrate]

I did some 'research' on field crickets before, and this is what I found:

I did some poking around, and it turns out that the two most common field crickets found in the northeastern US, (and presumably Canada) are Gryllus veletis (the spring field cricket) and Gryllus pennsylvanicus (the fall field cricket). G pennyslvanicus may not be a good choice for breeding purposes, because they supposedly need to have their eggs go through a dormancy period in cold temperatures to hatch - at least 3 months or so. I read a post, however, by a fellow who says he successfully bred G. veletis for a couple of generations in captivity. As I understand it, Gryllus veletis is an adult in the spring. It chirps in the spring. Gryllus pennsylvanicus is an adult in the fall. It chirps in the fall.

http://www.roachforum.com/topic/1423-small-scale-cricket-breeding/#entry5637

 

[dord]

I can't find any information on Acheta x Gryllus hybrids, I highly doubt the old posts here claiming they found some in the wild.

 

[Cyncrashnburn]

Is that a field cricket setup? Explain...

The setup I've been using is based on videos from you tube. I have them in an aquarium with containers with moist soil, food dish, and water dish with wet TP. The bottom has powdered saw dust which keeps any smell away and some articles for them to hide or climb on also a light bulb for warmth. I've had them now for 7 month and there has been several hatches. I find them very entertaining as so do my cats. I've never seen them fly and only jump when startled or trying to catch them. They seem to recognize there food or water dish when I move them. Other than that they are reaching their full size.

 

[Vanisher]

If the purpouse is to feed the insects to spiders or lizards or others, hybridizations are a non issue!

 

[Cyncrashnburn]

If the purpouse is to feed the insects to spiders or lizards or others, hybridizations are a non issue!

Yes it is for my other critters for food.

 

[Vanisher]

They work as well as other crickets. Cant have crickets though! Too noisy!