The Cricket Behavior.

Essay by kamakazeeUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, April 2003

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Abstract:

Cricket behavior is an interesting thing to observe and can be influenced by many factors. We attempted to create the crickets' natural habitat by introducing an egg carton into the otherwise empty tub. Our hypothesis is that the crickets will move from the emptiness of the tub to the area that we have changed to appear as the crickets' natural habitat. We predict that the crickets will crawl into the familiar area because it will be darker and seem safer and more familiar to the crickets. In the first trial, two male crickets crawled under the egg carton in a short time period. In the second trial, two male crickets and one female cricket went under the carton. The likeliness of the crickets to go beneath the egg carton appeared to be gender related. Our hypothesis and prediction were supported.

Introduction:

This experiment introduces the procedures followed while using the scientific method to observe cricket behavior.

Since observing crickets in their natural habitat is not very convenient for such a short lab period, several crickets were observed in a lab setting where variables could be controlled by the experimenters. Since previous investigations have shown a difference in cricket behavior based on gender, it is important to know the difference between a male cricket and a female cricket. The easiest way to determine gender differences in crickets is to look at the posterior of the cricket. Females will have something that looks like a black tail protruding from their posterior. Females are generally the larger of the crickets. We attempted to simulate the crickets natural environment and our hypothesis is that the crickets will move from the emptiness of the tub to the area that we have changed to appear as the crickets' natural habitat. We predict that...