Michael A. Franco - Jerusalem Crickets, the Child of the Earth

the Child of the Earth

Michael A. Franco

Smashwords Edition

JERUSALEM CRICKETS,the Child ofthe Earth

Copyright 2017 Michael A. Franco

Cover Design & Interior Layout by LauraShinn Designs

http://laurashinn.yolasite.com

All rights reserved under U.S. andInternational copyright law. This ebook is licensed only for theprivate use of the purchaser. May not be copied, scanned, digitallyreproduced, or printed for re-sale, may not be uploaded onshareware or free sites, or used in any other manner without theexpress written permission of the author and/or publisher. Thankyou for respecting the hard work of the author.

JERUSALEM CRICKETS,the Child ofthe Earth is a work of fiction. Though actual locations may bementioned, they are used in a fictitious manner and the events andoccurrences were invented in the mind and imagination of the authorexcept for the inclusion of actual historical facts. Similaritiesof characters or names used within to any person past, present,or future are coincidental except where actual historicalcharacters are purposely interwoven.

CONTENTS

This relative of the cricket excited theimagination and caused fear since it was first seen. The nativeAmericans called it Woh-tzi-Neh, which translates as "skull insect"or old bald headed man. In Spanish, it was called " ina de latierra" or "child of the earth," because of its large, bald babyface. It is also known by the names child of the desert,chacos, stone cricket, even potato bug.

Jerusalem Crickets attract a lot ofattention because they are a large size, and have a round, almosthuman-looking, baldhead. It almost looks like a little baby facewith a cricket body!

* * * * * * *

FUN FACTS:

Cricket is the common name for insects of afamily characterized by chirping courtship call of the male. Truecrickets include the black field cricket and the house cricket.

Its size and especially the extremely large,bald, shiny head, make this a frightening looking insect. The headhas two wide-set staring, dark, little beady eyes, below long,slender antennae. The color of the head, thorax and legs is usuallyyellow, almost flesh colored. Sometimes the head may be browncolored. At the bottom of the head are large mandibles ormouthparts. The shining abdomen is ringed with tan against a brownor black background. Its stout, spiny legs allow it to easily diginto the soil, but do not allow it to jump like its cricketrelatives.

* * * * * * *

FUN FACTS:

The Jerusalem cricket belongs to an Ordernamed Orthoptera, which includes grasshoppers, katydids and truecrickets.

The Jerusalem cricket spends most of itslife underground. Jerusalem crickets burrow in soil using theirlarge hard head and closed mouthparts as a hoe to move dirt backand underneath them. They dig in moist soil, although they can alsobe found in deep cracks in clay-like soils.

When they come above ground, it is usuallyat night or in the early morning. You might also see them crawlingout after a rain.

You might also see them after a field isplowed or at dusk, but usually not during the day.

Jerusalem crickets are also found in grassypastures during the fall, winter, and spring. During the fall, theyhide for protection. They can also be found and dug out of manureheaps and damp places.

These insects are found from southwesternCanada, east to the Great Plains and south all the way throughCosta Rica.

The Jerusalem cricket eats many foodsincluding:

plant roots, potatoes, other vegetables,many types of fruits, bread, rotting vegetation, and any kind ofmeat, including other insects.

They have also been occasionally seenfeeding on dead animals and may even eat other Jerusalem crickets.

* * * * * * *

FUN FACTS:

The Jerusalem Cricket has been called"potato bug" because it feeds on potatoes in the fields.

Although they may occasionally munch onpotatoes, they are not a serious crop pest like the true potatobeetle.

A Jerusalem Cricket is two or three timesthe size of a normal cricket. Adults may reach up to 2 inches long(30-50 mm).

The heaviest specimen of Jerusalem Cricketweighs about 10 grams and is three inches long (not including theantennae). There are mammals and birds that weigh less than this!

Jerusalem crickets make a sound like twopieces of sandpaper rubbed together.

Since Jerusalem crickets dont have ears,they have receptors in their legs that can sense thesevibrations.

But since these insects don't have wingsthey can't "sing." So they tap their abdomens on the ground inunique drumming patterns. The crickets then respond to drummingpatterns that are close to their own patterns.

* * * * * * *

FUN FACTS:

Like most crickets, this insect producessound, called drumming. It makes sound by rubbing the inner surfaceof its hind leg against short spines that jut out from the side ofits abdomen.

Females make their nest six to ten inchesbeneath rocks, logs, and boards. The female lays small clusters oflarge eggs in soil pockets.

The chamber is at the end of the burrow andnearly at a right angle to it.

The nesting chamber is lined with apaper-like material in which the whitish, oval, eighth-inchdiameter eggs are laid.

Jerusalem crickets crawl about secretivelyat night.

They often leave almost snake-like tracksfrom dragging their bulky abdomens, with a series of cleat trackson either side, made by the legs.

Their complete life cycle may extend threeyears or more.

Jerusalem crickets complete a generationwithin a year, beginning with the hatching of eggs in the spring,becoming grown up adults by fall.