# Notes on Rearing Tropical House Crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus)



## LawnShrimp (Feb 3, 2017)

Hello! This is my first post here, so I should introduce myself. Ever since I was little, I have enjoyed watching and catching arthropods of all kinds. I have had considerable success raising local species of insect, such as giant silkmoths, mantids, and a raggedy old house centipede. Anyway, I've decided that I understand enough about them to start my own collection of exotic inverts. I decided to start with the basics: feeder crickets.

*Description:*
_Gryllodes_ _sigillatus_ is a species of small, brown cricket with two dark bands across its thorax. Adult females have no wings, while males have half-length wings. They are commonly marketed as an alternative to _Acheta domesticus_, the common house cricket, due to the former's ability to withstand cricket paralysis virus. _Gryllodes _has several other benefits, such as quieter chirping and less odor. They also are less prone to cannibalism and never bite one another, although they will eat one of their dead kin. Males are only moderately aggressive towards one another and neither sex bites. However, they do have several downsides: they are fairly smaller and much more active than _Acheta,_ jumping much further and running faster. If one gets away, there is little chance of recovering it, provided it is not on a smooth surface. _Gryllodes _does not fare well on smooth surfaces, often scrambling to get traction where _Acheta_ would walk away. Due to their tropical nature, _Gryllodes _does best in warm places about 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 Celsius) or above. They can handle much lower temperatures but this slows growing drastically. 
*Feeding:*
_Gryllodes_ is a fairly herbivorous species, preferring fresh and long-dead plant matter. I have seen mine eat spinach, Romaine lettuce, carrots, dead oak, maple, and cherry leaves, as well as sprouts of grass that grew in their tank. The crickets will eat dead leaves regardless of any other food source present; perhaps it is a dietary requirement. I also feed them potato scraps, and they absolutely _love_ mushrooms of all kinds. They will eat small pieces of nuts and seeds, as well as food scraps from carnivorous inverts and even eggshells for calcium and protein. 
*Housing:*
Similar to common house crickets, _Gryllodes _requires moist but not moldy bedding with plenty of bark or stone hiding spots to hide under. These crickets are very photosensitive and will not tolerate light, always running for cover. After a few minutes of light, they will creep out but remain very wary. Dead leaves are must as they consume theme, and live plants are optional but pointless; the crickets will eat these too. 
They can be kept in any sort of container that retains moisture. I have mine in a plastic shoebox with a single airhole poked at the center of the lid. This traps moisture and any odors, while still letting the crickets breathe.
*Breeding:*
No trouble here; the crickets do everything on their own. They will readily lay in almost anything, but a peat/coco fiber mix works best. Eggs are elongated and translucent yellow, about two millimeters or less in length, sometimes laid in clumps. They hatch quickly in optimal temperatures but take longer when cooler.
*Other Notes:*
These are one of my favorite crickets. They have a quiet, musical chirp and require minimal care. I found these at a non-commercial pet store, where I had previously bought _Acheta _crickets for feeding a mantis. They had replaced the species between my visits, and immediately recognized them as _Gryllodes._
What are your experiences with this cricket? How do you like it as a feeder?
Am I doing something wrong and need suggestions?
Feel free to answer below!

                                                                                                                               ~Shrimp

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 2


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## KevinsWither (Feb 3, 2017)

This cricket often occurs in my home, so I know what they are. I was thinking of keeping all sorts of crickets as I had interest in crickets before 2nd grade, but now I kind of want to find a few and keep them.


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## LawnShrimp (Feb 5, 2017)

These are the kind of cricket where if you catch a male and a female, you will soon have several dozen. I live in the Northern Hemisphere of the U.S. so the only place I'd find _Gryllodes_ (or any interesting invert) would be at a pet shop if the trade laws hadn't banned it. Good luck with your crickets.


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## Introvertebrate (Feb 5, 2017)

LawnShrimp said:


> These are the kind of cricket where if you catch a male and a female, you will soon have several dozen. I live in the Northern Hemisphere of the U.S. so the only place I'd find _Gryllodes_ (or any interesting invert) would be at a pet shop if the trade laws hadn't banned it. Good luck with your crickets.


Gryllodes is banned?  Ghann's sells them.


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## LawnShrimp (Mar 4, 2017)

Sorry, I was exaggerating. The restrictions on inverts are hated by everybody from the U.S. on these boards, even though they are for our protection. I have heard that Gryllodes are spreading in Florida and Arizona, so maybe some restrictions there?


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## LawnShrimp (Mar 4, 2017)

Update:
Adult crickets have all died and were fed to my compost isopods. I bought a few more nymphs, which are nearing their final instar, but unfortunately the hatchlings from the adults have mostly died. On discovering this, I converted their container into an isopod habitat (_Armadillidium vulgare, _Sepia _A. nasatum_, Yellow Mottle _Porcellio scaber_). I churned up the soil quite well to mix it with dead leaves and peat moss, placed dead leaves down, and added some old wood. Then, just today, I noticed three white cricket nymphs scuttling over the isopods. The crickets appear to all be recent hatches, probably from eggs that did not hatch the first time. _Gryllodes _is really quite resilient.


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## Ranitomeya (Mar 4, 2017)

Gryllodes are resistant, but not immune to the virus. They'll last a while longer with only their saltatory hind legs paralyzed than Acheta that seem to die very soon after symptoms occur.


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## LawnShrimp (Mar 10, 2017)

Ah. News to me. However, every time I've tried to breed the _Acheta_ crickets they've all died. All of my _Gryllodes _deaths have been to other inverts or old age.


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