Black field cricket
The male black field cricket rubs a file and scraper on its wings together to chirp or trill, either to attract a listening female to mate with or to warn away other male crickets from its territory.
Black field crickets in eastern Washington may be spring or fall species. Spring field crickets or Gryllis veletis overwinter as nymphs ready to eat come spring and are more abundant then, while fall field crickets (Gryllis pennsylvanicus) have a later start, overwintering in the egg stage.
Field crickets are omnivorous scavengers able to eat nearly any organic matter, living or dead or decaying. They prey on some insect pests such as grasshoppers and weevils as eggs, pupa or slow, newly emerged adults. They may damage new seedlings but also consume great quantities of weed seeds.
Field cricket predators include birds, toads, spiders, small rodents, lizards, snakes (especially the yellow-bellied racer in eastern Washington based on a study of its diet), pallid bats, parasitoid flies, predacious ground beetles, praying mantis, and wasps such as the cricket hunter wasp. People have also been known to eat crickets for their novelty, out of necessity or perhaps simply because they're delicious.
Black field cricket female - Gryllus veletis
Black field cricket
