The tropical house cricket is a small, pale tan cricket with two dark bands, one across the thorax and one across the top of the abdomen. Probably native to southwestern Asia, it has spread with commerce throughout the world's tropics and is an introduced species in the US. It's also called the Indian house cricket or banded cricket.
Appearance
- Appearance
- About 1/2–3/4 in (13–18 mm) long, a little smaller than the house cricket. Light yellowish tan, somewhat flattened, with dark bands across the thorax and upper abdomen.
- Growth form
- Males have short wings that cover only about half the abdomen. Females are nearly wingless and have a long egg-laying tube. Rarely, a long-winged adult turns up.
- Voice
- Only males sing. The calling song is a series of short chirps, each made of three pulses.
Look-alikes
The tropical house cricket has a single dark band between the eyes, and the gap between its antennae is narrow, about as wide as the first antenna segment. Long-winged tropical house crickets look very much like house crickets, so check the head closely.
Why they get mixed upBoth are pale brown crickets found around homes and sold as feeders.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Sidewalks and paved areas
- Around buildings
- Range
- Tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. In the US it's an introduced species; in Florida it's common outdoors.
- Preferred conditions
- In Florida it hides by day in cracks in pavement and comes out at night to feed and sing. It sometimes wanders into buildings.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- It has no overwintering stage, so generations overlap all year. Development from egg to adult takes about two to three months, depending on temperature.
Growing it
- Care
- Raised commercially as feeder insects for reptiles, birds, amphibians, and other insect-eating pets. It's reported to be immune to cricket paralysis virus and is more active and longer-lived than the house cricket.
- Toxicity
- Harmless to people. Singing males indoors can be a nuisance.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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