Cricket Life Cycle: From Egg to Adult

Introduction

There are more than 900 species of crickets found across the globe, each with their own unique appearance. Crickets are found in a variety of colors ranging from brown, green, red, or black depending on the species. Despite their differences, the cricket life cycle is similar across all species.

Regardless of the species, every cricket passes through three developmental stages:

Eggs
Nymphs
Adults

The cricket life cycle is considered an incomplete metamorphosis because there is no pupal stage. After hatching, cricket nymphs look just like adult crickets, only smaller.

Mating

The distinct chirping sound crickets are famous for is actually male crickets trying to attract female crickets for mating. The sound is produced by their wings scraping together. After mating, females become fertile and begin to search for a suitable place to lay their eggs — usually damp and humid places. Females deposit their eggs with the help of their ovipositor, which is a tube-like organ.

A single female cricket can lay anywhere from 100 to 200 eggs in her lifetime.

The Cricket Life Cycle

Egg

The life of a cricket begins with an egg. After approximately 14 days, the eggs will begin to hatch and nymphs will start to break out of their shell. The nymphs then slowly dig out of the damp substrate they were lying in.

Nymph

Nymphs are basically young versions of adult crickets. Even though they resemble adult crickets in appearance, they have a few differences:

Upon hatching, nymphs are not as developed as adults
Nymphs lack wings to fly
Female crickets are not sexually mature and lack ovipositors, so they are unable to reproduce
Sometimes nymphs fall prey to bigger insects before they develop into adults

A nymph has to undergo molting to develop and grow into an adult. During this process they shed their hard exoskeleton and develop a new one. The new exoskeleton is initially soft and a milky white color, eventually hardening within a few hours. A nymph has to molt 8–10 times to fully develop into an adult, and usually takes a month to completely molt and start growing its wings.

Adult

The only requirement for a cricket to be categorized as a fully mature adult is the development of wings. Once they have achieved this, they pursue their life purposes — essentially eating and mating. Males produce sounds to attract females for mating. Upon fertilization, female crickets lay eggs, and the whole cricket life cycle begins again.

Cricket Lifespan

The lifespan of an adult cricket is around 6 weeks, while the full life cycle usually takes 2–3 months to complete, depending upon outside conditions. The favorable temperature for crickets to thrive in is between 80°F–90°F.

Common Types of Crickets

Crickets are generally categorized into four main groups:

Camel Crickets: Easy to identify because of their distinctive arched appearance which resembles a camel's hump. They are incredible jumpers and wingless. Usually found in dark areas like basements, garages, attics, and crawl spaces.
Field Crickets: Usually black or brown with very long antennae. They love to live outdoors, in lawns, near overgrown grass, flower beds, and bushes.
House Crickets: Similar to field crickets but lighter in color with a yellowish-brown hue. Usually found in dark spaces in homes, garages, attics, and basements.
Jerusalem Cricket: Distinguished by their brown abdomen with black rings, very large heads and legs. They are wingless and nymphs molt up to 11 times to reach adulthood.