Insects are wildly misunderstood creatures, having a terrible reputation for bringing disease and destruction upon humanity, a sentiment that is particularly prevalent in the Western World. Images of vicious locust and spiders are shown in cheesy horror films, further instilling a fear of insects in many people, and, to be fair, some of these concerns have a great deal of merit to them.
However, the world of insects contains multitudes as much as anything else; they are not just pests that wreak havoc upon humans. Insects also play a pivotal role in the ecosystem, providing many services to animals, plants, and even humans.
One of the more palatable insects for people to encounter is the cricket. Nonthreatening images of crickets have been used in movies for years, such as Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio, where he is depicted as a friendly and comedic character. Symbols of the cricket extend even deeper into human cultures, though.
With its over nine-hundred unique species, crickets can be found in every continent on earth outside of Antarctica. Their adaptability and resilience are what has allowed them to survive in every habitat worldwide from the forest and meadows to caves and the underground. The presence of crickets has been felt and noted by every culture throughout history, so understanding their value can provide you not only an appreciation for the insect but also a reverence for their worldly contributions.
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DIET
Crickets are scavengers, able to eat almost anything they can find in your basement, garage, or outdoor habitat. Ironically, their diet is very similar to a human’s. Since they are omnivores, crickets are not limited to food that only consists of plant matter. They can eat nearly everything readily available from vegetables and fruits to fungi and fabric. In short, they are not very picky.
Each type of cricket has a different diet, too. While almost all crickets are omnivores, some species have a refined palate that prefers leafy greens and vegetables over other options. Other species prefer the taste of meat and seek out protein sources like snails or other insects.
If food options begin to dwindle and crickets become pressed for food, they will start to get creative with their diet by turning on their own species for survival, creating a real Lord of the Flies situation. This cannibalistic action has been seen in many types of cricket, namely the mormon cricket, which has been well documented of their tendency to consume each other if their population becomes too large.
However, the one nutritional requirement which all crickets require is a source of fresh water. Water is universally needed for every bodily function, including metabolic, so a reliable source is extremely important to the survival of crickets.
CHIRPING
The nightly chirp is the true stamp of a cricket, identifiable by anyone who has either stood outside and listened to their melodic chorus on a warm summer night or gone mad from the incessant chirping of a cricket who has been hiding in their home.
Male crickets are predominantly the ones who chirp. They are known to do this in order to sound an alert of danger when in trouble and also to assert dominance when they encounter another male. However, since crickets generally have great difficulty learning how to play acoustic guitar, the male crickets’ chirp is usually an unabashed attempt at wooing a mate.
The wings of a cricket have a grooved surface on the bottom and a surface designed for scraping on the top. By rubbing their wings together, males emanate their signature chirping sound, which enables female crickets and predators alike to locate the males. This process is called stridulating.
In species of cricket who do not chirp, like the camel cricket, other mechanisms are used for producing sound and attracting mates.
Females are able to process and determine how desirable a male is based on their chirp. One way is through the pitch of the chirp. A deeper pitch indicates a larger male, making them a more desirable mate than one with a higher-pitched chirp.
The frequency of chirping varies depending on the temperature, too. The higher the temperature, the higher the frequency of a cricket’s song. Farmers discovered this correlation a long time ago and have often used it to approximate the temperature outside. By listening to the number of chirps in a fifteen-second span and adding thirty-seven to the result, the farmers were able to estimate the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. This relationship is known as Dolbear’s law, with some types of crickets having a higher correlation to it than others.
REPRODUCTION
The first step of reproduction is the courtship of the female via chirping. Once the female has determined the male to be an acceptable suitor, she will locate and approach the male. The pair will make contact through their antennas, and the second period of courtship may occur in which the male continues to chirp.
Unlike many other species, the female is the one who mounts the male. The male will then release a small sperm packet, a spermatophore, which is received by the female. The sperm flows from the spermatophore into the female’s oviduct, which can take up to an hour.
Afterward, the female may eat the remaining spermatophore, which contains many nutrients to prepare her body for laying eggs. Then, the female will mate with several different males on different occasions by repeating this same courtship process, retaining the sperm of each individual she mates with. Eventually, the female fertilizes the eggs inside her with some of the sperm she has collected.
Some studies have indicated that females might be able to choose which of the sperm inside her will be used to fertilize her eggs, though this is still being researched. This may be evolutionarily advantageous by potentially reducing inbreeding within a population and choosing the highest qualified male for her offspring.
Most females will lay their fertilized eggs in the soil or inside plant stems. The eggs usually take about a week to hatch, and the offspring will then be in their nymph stage. The offspring will slowly pass through ten larval stages punctuated by molting until its genitalia and wings are fully developed. Then, another period of maturation must pass wherein the cricket will finally be able to breed.
TYPES OF CRICKETS:
With over nine-hundred species of cricket, it is hard to narrow down to just a few. However, the following eleven types of crickets illustrate the complexity and diversity within the general umbrella of “cricket.”
True Cricket
True crickets are insects related to grasshoppers and katydids that are part of the Gryllidae family with over nine-hundred known species. Their bodies are flattened, and they possess long antennae. They have wings that lie flat on their bodies, though they are not used for flight in many species. Due to the large variety of species, the size of each cricket varies greatly.
In human culture, true crickets have an immense amount of lore that surrounds them. In Barbados, a loud cricket is indicative of money coming in. Therefore, the chirping of crickets is welcomed, and they are rarely killed. Additionally, crickets are often used as symbols of wisdom and immortality, such as in the Greek myth of Eos and Tithonus.
Crickets have even permeated modern popular culture in several Walt Disney films like Mulan and Pinocchio, where they have been shown as a symbol of luck and wealth.
Outside of symbolism and myth, crickets have been used for sport and entertainment. While it is now thought to be cruel, cricket fighting used to be a common practice in China throughout history. It was originally an indulgence of emperors and royals but later became popular amongst the rest of the population.
Australian Field Cricket
The Australian Field Cricket, or Teleogryllus oceanicus, is also known as the Oceanic or Pacific Cricket and is a species of cricket found in Oceania and coastal Australia. They are black and dark brown in color with stripes on the back of their head and average about thirty millimeters in length for males and thirty-seven millimeters for the females. These crickets burrow into the soil inside fissures or holes where they are protected. Preferring to settle in areas already occupied by crickets, they are usually found at high numbers.
The Australian Field Cricket is commonly confused with Teleogryllus Commodus, a species with which it shares the common name “black field cricket.” These two species are nearly identical morphologically, except the Australian Field Cricket males have a greater number of file teeth on their wings, and the two have different calling sounds. Their similarities are so great that they were originally recognized as a geographic race of T. Commodus, though they are no longer regarded as such.
While the Australian field crickets are native to the Oceania area, they were introduced in Hawaii, where they have populated its islands as an invasive species. It is still unknown whether they were introduced by the original Polynesian settlers 1,500 years ago or if they were introduced by area trade ships in 1877 since there is evidence to support both theories.
After these crickets were introduced to Hawaii, they encountered a novel predator that fundamentally changed their species– Ormia ochracea, a parasitoid fly species. Clearly, not everyone appreciates the delicate art of music. Either that or the males need to get a better vocal coach because this fly is able to target male crickets by listening for their calling song. The continuous predation by the fly has caused the Australian field cricket to rapidly adapt and evolve their singing behaviors, refraining from singing at dawn and dusk when the flies are most active.
Further, this has caused a mutation to arise in some members of the population in Hawaii called flat wing or, as I like to call it, the Ursula mutation. Similar to what Ursula did to poor Ariel, this mutation eliminates the wing structures in males that are used to produce sound, taking away their ability to sing. While this is sexually less advantageous, it protects the Australian field crickets from the predatory fly.
House Cricket
Acheta domesticus, commonly called the house cricket, is a grey or brown colored cricket which typically spans about eighteen millimeters in length. Visually, they resemble grasshoppers, particularly with their legs, and similarly use them to jump significant distances. While they have wings and can fly, they mostly crawl or hop instead.
House crickets are native to southwestern Asia, though they have spread worldwide. This is because house crickets are considered a delicacy in many cultures, leading to the species being farmed across the world. While other cricket species are also edible, the house cricket is sought after due to consumers lauding it for its superior taste and texture. They are commonly dry-roasted, deep-fried, and freeze-dried to use in a variety of traditional meals.
Humans are not the only ones chowing down on the house cricket, though. Pets like lizards, frogs, and spiders consume crickets, too. House crickets are packed with nutrients like protein and omega fatty acids, so they are a great addition to any pet’s diet. They have even begun to incorporate cricket protein into dog foods as an alternative to animal products.
Further, they are sometimes kept as pets themselves. Many cultures have kept crickets as pets because they are extremely inexpensive, and they do not require much upkeep compared to other pets. However, bringing house crickets inside has allowed those lucky crickets who escape turning from house pets to house pests.
Though they are physically benign, their wings are what give house crickets a bad reputation. They produce a distinctly loud chirping sound, which can commonly be heard at below-average comedy clubs. This chirping is what has labeled house crickets as a nuisance pest due to the incessant noise they produce, which continues on throughout the night.
If the chorus of chirping does not tip off the house residents that there are house crickets squatting, they will find the evidence in their clothes and drapes because house crickets are also known to chew through wool and cotton, too.
Tree cricket
Tree crickets are white and green colored crickets found all across the world. Their bodies are long and skinny with an average length of thirty millimeters, and each cricket population has camouflaging that matches the color of their habitat.
Unlike many crickets who use their wings for only chirping, the tree cricket is able to fly using their fore and hind wings. This is essential for their survival because they are often in habitats like trees, bushes, and shrubs from which they occasionally have to jump from in order to escape predators.
While mating, male tree crickets secret a fluid between their wings. This fluid contains a lot of nutrients and is fed upon by the females to increase the chance of reproduction. The more the female cricket eats, the more their chance of reproduction increases. As the female is consuming the fluid, the males deposit his sperm. This process is known as courtship feeding.
The chirp of a tree cricket is also fairly unique. Rather than the sound of a true cricket, a tree crickets’ chirp is a long and continuous sound, making it more similar to the sounding of a cicada.
The chirp of a tree cricket is also extremely unique in that the pitch of its chirp can change based on the temperature at the time. Scientists discovered that the pitch of a tree crickets’ chirp would deepen and heighten depending on the temperature in addition to the change in frequency of its song like most other crickets.
This is because most crickets vibrate just a small part of their wing to produce their song. Tree crickets, on the other hand, vibrate their entire wing to produce their call.
Also, this makes them unique because the pitch of their song is not directly correlated to the size of the cricket, like most species. Rather, the pitch depends on how fast the wings of that cricket are able to move, with the temperature being the primary influence on this.
One species of tree cricket, the snowy tree cricket, has a remarkably high correlation of its chirping to Dolbear’s law. The snowy tree cricket is also the species that produces the chirp that films and television shows use to dub on soundtracks.
Camel Cricket
The camel cricket, also known as the cave cricket, spider cricket, and sand treader, is part of the family known as Rhaphidopharidae, making it technically not an actual cricket since crickets belong to the Gryllidae family. While they may be closely related and similarly resemble crickets, camel crickets do not possess wings or sound-producing organs, which means they are not able to chirp.
Camel crickets are brown with large, spider-like legs, long antennae, and a humpbacked body from which they got their name. While their extended limbs make them appear very intimidating, camel crickets are completely harmless. Their unsettlingly long limbs let them navigate the dark places they inhabit via touch as well as allow them to jump great distances in order to avoid predation.
Camel crickets are found all across the world, from North America to Australia and Asia. They primarily inhabit caves and mines, though they have also been found to dwell in other dark, moist environments like hollow trees and under damp leaves.
Due to their suitability for cool, wet areas, camel crickets have a knack for invading basements and laundry rooms, wandering in from the outside. While you might find them nearby as you fold your laundry, they will not be helping you out with it. Camel crickets can become quite a nuisance due to their consumption of cardboard, wood, and fabrics like curtains and clothing. If you are lucky, they might even destroy those dish towels your mother-in-law bought you for Christmas that you “absolutely loved.”
Additionally, dead camel crickets can pollute wells and create an intense odor, potentially attracting even more pests, so getting rid of them before a bigger problem arises is heavily advised.
Jerusalem Cricket
Jerusalem crickets, also known as potato bugs, are a group of insects within the genus Stenopelmatus that live in the Western region of the United States. Similar to the camel cricket, Jerusalem crickets are not actually crickets since they do not belong to the family Gryllidae. However, they are also not technically a “bug” either, for bugs belong to the order Hemiptera, nor do they feed on potatoes. Even more disappointing, they are not from Jerusalem, either. They are simply just a fraud of an insect.
The Jerusalem cricket is a nocturnal insect who uses their feet to burrow underneath moist soil. They also possess a strong mandible for which they use to feed upon insects and decaying plants underground as well as to inflict a painful bite when provoked. However, most people and animals will not come close enough to be bitten because the Jerusalem cricket produces a very pungent odor that staves off predators.
Since they are burrowing creatures, Jerusalem crickets do not possess any wings. Therefore, they are not able to produce a chirping song that other crickets use to attract mates, making them a relatively silent creature.
Instead, these insects produce a pounding sound by repeatedly beating their abdomen against the ground during mating. Additionally, they are able to hiss by forcing air through their bodies, but this is used more to deter predators rather than attract mates.
Katydids Cricket
Katydid is the North American name for bush crickets or long-horned grasshoppers, an insect within the family Tettigoniidae. In fact, they are the only living member of this taxonomic family. These insects are found worldwide, able to survive in dry, cool areas as well as hot and humid ones.
Katydids are typically green and about four centimeters in length on average, resembling a grasshopper quite closely. However, one distinct difference in their physical appearance is their antennae. Grasshoppers usually have short antennae, while katydids have long antennae, which can even extend to a length longer than their body.
While katydids do possess developed front wings, they are unable to fly due to the absence of hind wings. Instead, they use their wings to flutter to the ground when falling from great heights and, more importantly, they rub them together to chirp.
Each species of katydid has its own unique song, but the common true katydid, Pterophylla camellifolia, produces the song which katydids derive their name from. As dusk approaches, the male katydids begin to sing from high perches together, synchronizing their sounds and forming the world’s most underrated boy band group. Their one-hit-wonder of a song follows the rhythmic pattern of their name, repeating the phonetic sound “kei tee duhd” over and over again.
Mormon Cricket
Mormon crickets, also known as Anabrus simplex, are large insects of about seven centimeters on average and can possess a variety of different colorations. They live in the western region of North America and are not actually crickets but instead are short-winged katydids.
Mormon crickets are infamous for their devastating effects on agriculture in the western United States. Population explosions occur during periods of drought, leading to swarms that devastate already thirsty and suffering crops. These crickets eat all plant and insect material in their path, including their own species sometimes. Swarms of these insects also leave behind a stain of feces and crushed crickets, costing farmers more money and effort in clean-up costs.
Mormon crickets, shockingly, do not practice the religion but are rather more likely to hold a grudge against those who do take part in Mormonism. Their name comes from the Mormon settlers in Utah who encountered them when venturing westward.
The Mormons who gave these insects their name were famously saved from a swarm of Mormon crickets by the arrival of a flock of seagulls. Those birds fed on the insects over a two week period and saved their crops from destruction. This event went down in Utah’s history as the “Miracle of the Gulls” and is still celebrated today.
Mole Cricket
Mole crickets are insects with small eyes and shovel-like forelimbs that assist them in burrowing, preferring to live underground. Even though they are burrowing insects, they do possess two pairs of wings, though some species have such small hind wings that they are unable to fly.
Mole crickets have a love or hate relationship with humans depending upon which region of the world they live in. In the west and areas of intense agriculture, they are viewed as a pest. Due to their burrowing, mole crickets push up the ground and thereby increase evaporation, disturb planted seeds, and destroy seedlings’ root systems. This costs farmers a great amount of money, which has been one factor in the increased use of insecticides.
However, not everyone in the world views them as a boon on society. Mole crickets are also greatly appreciated in other areas of the world. In Zambia, mole crickets are a sign of good fortune. In Latin America, they are used to predict rain. Even in Japan, they are seen as an announcement of a person’s sins to heaven.
Parktown Prawn Cricket
The Parktown prawn, or Libanasidus vittatus, is a species of king cricket that is also commonly referred to as the African king cricket and tusked king cricket. They are commonly found in Namibia and Angola, as well as South Africa, where its name was given from a suburb in Johannesburg. Despite its many names, they are not actually crickets, belonging to the family Anostostomatidae.
Parktown prawns are rather large insects, spanning about six centimeters in length on average. The males have tusk-like projections on their mandibles, though the utility of these is still unknown.
The Parktown prawn is omnivorous with an extremely cultured, though pretentious, appetite. They consume vegetable matter and invertebrates like snails, enjoying the sophisticated delight of escargot. Due to this, many gardeners utilize them as living pest control to eliminate snail populations.
However, once these insects come indoors, they can quickly become a pest, chewing through carpet and fabrics. Worse still, they are able to eject black fecal liquid when threatened and jump considerable distances, frightening many who stumble upon them.
Roesel’s Bush Cricket
Roeseliana roeselii, or Roesel’s bush-cricket, is a European bush cricket named after the German entomologist August von Rosenhof. These crickets originated from the western regions of Europe all the way to western Siberia, averaging about twenty millimeters in length. They usually sport a variety of colors but can be identified by yellow-green spots along their abdomen, which they all possess.
Roesel’s bush-crickets have reduced wings that are nonfunctional as far as the flight is concerned. However, there are fully winged forms that make up about one percent of the species. Instead, they use their wings to produce a chirp for mating purposes.
The Roesel’s bush-cricket has a very distinct song that resembles the Savi’s warbler as well as the sound of electrical wires. The Savi’s warbler is also native to the same European region as the Roesel’s bush-cricket, so it is thought that this mimicry is a defense mechanism which has developed to deflect attention from predators.
FAQ’s
Not really. Crickets are not explicitly harmful to humans but rather more of a nuisance. Once crickets invade your home, they will likely just chirp throughout the night, potentially keeping you up and just irritating you. At most, the crickets will chew up the fabric in your house like drapes and clothing, which will cost you monetarily or in your social reputation.
While most crickets are not able to, some cricket species, like the Jerusalem cricket, will bite when provoked, though this will cause hardly any physical damage and just be slightly painful. Crickets do contain a staggering number of diseases. However, none of the diseases that are transmittable to humans are fatal.
The most harm crickets can cause is when they rapidly reproduce and become a swarm of insects. These have been known to cause devastation across farmers’ crops, costing them a great deal of money in the process.
No. Most crickets are omnivores and scavengers, meaning they are not very picky eaters and are able to eat plant and animal material. In some cases, they even consume members of their own species. This allows them a greater chance of survival in the wild due to their vast options for food.
Some types of crickets do have preferences, though. The true cricket prefers meat over plants, consuming ants, aphids, and mites, but they will still eat plant material if these options are not available. Similarly, the Parktown prawn often consumes snails, preferring meat products over plants if they are presented with the option.
Yes. Invertebrates are animals that do not possess a back or bony skeleton and represent a majority of the animal kingdom. Like many insects, crickets’ bodies are covered with a hard exoskeleton instead of having an internal spine, providing a significant degree of protection from predators and the weather.
Another attribute of invertebrates is its open respiratory systems. Instead of a closed system, like lungs, open systems have holes along with their exoskeleton, which allows the transport of gases to and from tissues.
An open respiratory system allows crickets to not be affected by pressure changes as much, which makes them better able to survive and live in high-pressure environments.
Yes. Most crickets sleep and hide inside their habitat during the day. At night, they crawl out and become active, usually either looking for food or trying to mate.
This is why crickets are often heard chirping at night. This chirping is a signal from the males to the females in an attempt to woo them to become their reproductive partner.
No. Aside from old Jiminy Cricket, cricket species are largely considered to be unintelligent compared to other insect species like ants or bees who exhibit social learning behaviors. Crickets are not known to exhibit any learning behavior or adaptations.
It depends. While some crickets do have the potential to bite, it is rare for a cricket’s mouth to actually puncture the skin. However, the Jerusalem cricket is one type of cricket that is able to bite and inflict pain if provoked to that point. While this can be a minor irritation, the diseases that crickets carry and are able to pass on to humans are not fatal.
Fortunately, a cricket’s first instinct is flight rather than fight, so you do not have to worry about a cricket coming up and biting you in the night.
It depends. Most types of crickets possess wings of some sort, although there are some types of cricket like the camel cricket who do not possess any semblance of wings. However, whether those types of crickets with wings are able to function for a flight depends on the species of cricket.
Many crickets, such as the katydid, are unable to fly despite having a set of wings. Instead, their wings are used to create a chirping sound by rubbing the wings, which is used for a variety of reasons, including for males to attract a mate.
Crickets are able to invade a house in a variety of ways. The simplest way is through humans bringing them indoors. Crickets are often used as live food for a variety of pets. If a cricket is able to escape, it will most likely remain in the home instead of trying to find its way outside. The weather protection and lack of predators make it an ideal environment for them to live in.
Another way is through tiny openings in the house. Oftentimes, crickets are attracted to bright outdoor lighting that may surround a home. Once they have come close to the home, crickets are able to fit into small holes around the door or window sill since they are so small.
In order to avoid attracting crickets and other pests to your home, use yellow lighting, and stay away from white lighting. Also, make sure to seal any gaps and cracks in your home, so there are not any openings for insects to slip into.
If crickets begin to infest your home, fumigation may be required. However, before doing so, try alternatives such as vacuuming and simple insect trappings first.
Their wings. Most crickets make their chirping sound at night by rubbing their wings together. The bottom of a male cricket’s wing is covered with ridges that make it rough. The top of the wing is shaped like a scraper.
As the crickets rub their wings together, a chirping sound emanates called “stridulating.” This is done by the males as a part of their mating ritual.
However, crickets who do not possess wings have other ways of making noise. For instance, the Jerusalem cricket makes its mating noise by beating its abdomen against the ground, creating a drumming noise. Jerusalem crickets and other species are also able to make a hissing sound by pushing air through its body and vibrating. Hissing is mostly used to deter predators.
It depends. There are over nine-hundred species of cricket worldwide, and each type of cricket has its own lifecycle. Most of the common crickets like the field cricket, camel cricket, and house cricket do not live for more than a year, oftentimes living for much less than that.
Other than its species, the lifespan of a cricket depends on several other factors, including climate and habitat. Those crickets who have to brave the outdoors every day and face the harshness of winter typically have a shorter lifespan than those who live snugly indoors, shacking up in the basement or laundry room.
Five. Crickets have two compound eyes and three simple eyes. The obvious two eyes that can be seen on a cricket are its two compound eyes. These are a pair of hexagonal lenses which allow the cricket to see in multiple directions. This helps the cricket to constantly survey its surroundings for potential predators.
The three simple eyes, called ocelli, are located on the cricket’s forehead. The ocelli have one single lens and are used to differentiate between light and dark. This is important for a cricket to determine when it should be sleeping during the day and active at night.
There are over nine-hundred distinct species of cricket currently known. Cricket’s extreme adaptability has enabled them to become distributed all around the world, with the highest diversity located in the tropics. They can survive in almost every habitat, from forest and meadows to caves and underground.
In the United States, only about one-hundred types can be found. The five most common types of crickets found in the United States are field cricket, house cricket, camel cricket, ground cricket, and tree cricket.
While there are many insects that have the word “cricket” in their name, an insect has to be part of the Gryllidae family in order to be considered an actual cricket.
Extremely well. Crickets have excellent eyesight. Their two compound eyes have many different lenses, which allow them to visualize different pictures at the same time. Because they are prey for many animals, these compound eyes allow them to constantly monitor the entire surroundings and remain vigilant.
Additionally, crickets possess three simple eyes known as ocelli located on the cricket’s forehead. These have a single lens that is used to differentiate light and darkness.
It depends. Crickets can be found in a variety of colors depending on their species and habitat, ranging from brown to white as well as many other colors. Crickets are usually found to be camouflaged to their surroundings.
This camouflage allows the crickets to blend into their surroundings, protecting the crickets from predators while they sleep during the day.
For instance, the Australian field cricket burrows underground and is usually a dark brown color to help blend in. The tree cricket also blends into its natural habitat, the tree, with a range of green shades.
Almost anything. Since crickets are omnivores, their options for eating are extremely wide. This allows them to obtain nutrients from whatever is available at the time.
Some species of cricket prefer leafy greens and vegetables, while others will have a taste for meat such as a snail or other insects. Their pallets even go as far as consuming types of fungi like mushrooms.
If crickets are extremely pressed for food, they will sometimes turn on their own species. Many crickets like the mormon cricket will consume crickets of their own species if the opportunity presents itself.
Most of them. Most cricket species make some sort of noise for either communication or mating purposes. This is typically done through chirping. Male crickets chirp by rubbing their wings together in a mating ritual in order to attract females, producing the familiar sound from which crickets are identified.
However, a few species of cricket do not make hardly any noise. Burrowing species of crickets are often very silent insects compared to other species. For example, the Jerusalem cricket does not have wings to chirp at night. Instead, they slam their abdomen against the ground to create a drumming noise, so they do still produce some sort of sound.
Some species make a different kind of noise as well– a hiss. They do this by pushing air through their bodies, vibrating their exoskeleton, and creating a hissing sound. This is mostly used to deter predators.
