I have been on the lookout for the singing male spring field crickets for a while. Crickets are a noisy bunch but difficult to find. I was lucky to spot one sitting high up on a rocky crevice this week. I actually did a double take because I thought I was seeing things :). To my surprise, I found another one along a grassy patch the following day. Spring field crickets spend the winter as immature nymphs and complete their development early in the spring. The males sing to attract females and they make the sounds by rubbing the edges of the two front wings together. It must be nice to be a female cricket – being serenaded and all :). Field crickets eat fresh and decaying plants, dead insects, and some will feed on other field crickets or live insects. I like hearing them sing, it can be quite pleasant.
I met two ladies on my walk last week who pointed out a blooming mountain’s lady slipper orchids to me. I was so intent on finding the field crickets, I totally missed that. Thanks for sharing ladies! Mountain’s lady slipper orchids are very beautiful but deceitful – bees beware. They do not reward pollinators because they do not produce nectar and their pollen is very sticky making it difficult for insects to feed on. Pollinators fall into the slipper and in their effort to get in and out of the flowers pollinate the plants. I am sure the hapless bees or flies, though miffed are happy to get out of the slippers unscathed. A kind gentleman showed me some blooming prickly pear cactus on the hillsides this week – the flowers are just gorgeous. The wild roses are blooming in the valley and they smell so nice.
What a week; crickets, blooming mountain lady slippers, cactus and roses – just lovely! Enjoy the pictures!
All photos taken by Susanna Acheampong
Bugs N Stuff 