interesting facts about crickets

July 26, 2010 | In: Animal facts for kids

The ears of crickets and katydid bugs are in their legs, right near their knees. They don’t work terribly well, though.
Crickets and katydids can only distinguish between kinds of sounds – telling the difference between the sounds of animals and the sound of thunder, for example.
They can’t tell the difference between the sounds of snakes or salamanders (who like to eat crickets) and the sounds of animals – like people – who would rather eat hamburgers.
That’s why crickets and katydids stop chirping when people walk by. To their ears, we could just as easily be snakes or salamanders, out looking for a cricket sandwich.

Here’s how you can read the “Cricket Weather Report” on a warm summer night:

1. Count the number of chirps you hear in 15 seconds. Don’t worry if you have to try this a few times before you get a clear count.
2. Take the 15-second-chirp-count number and divide it by 2 and then add 6. The number you get is the temperature in Celsius. Here is an example:

40 divided by 2 = 20
20 plus 6 = 26

The temperature is about 26 degrees Celsius.
3. Would you like the temperature in Fahrenheit? Take your 15-second-chirp-count number and add 40. That is about the temperature in Fahrenheit.
4. Check your results with an outdoor thermometer.