Do crickets have the ability to learn?

[ScorpDude]

This is something I've mentioned on another forum but most people didn't take too much notice of it. Anyway, this is something I've noticed. As we all know only adult male crickets chirp, but I've noticed that as long as none of them are chirping none of them start. In this notion, I've been able to keep tubs of adult crickets which would usually be merily chirping away in complete silence because I would cull any off as soon as they started chirping. I didn't have to do this very often (3 times a week or so) but I'd have a good 20 or so in there in silence. Is it that they are learning or that they only feel the need to chirp if others are doing so?

Another example of this would be mealworm beetles, and I'm pretty much sure this is learning. In all of my mealworm cultures none of them fly, they are happy scrambling around. Then one day I noticed one of them climb up some egg crate to the top, and fly off. It did this over and over again for about 10 minutes (probably longer but I got bored). I thought it was pretty cool but didn't think much of it. The next day I went back and they were ALL flying, doing exactly the same, climbing the egg crate and leaping off. Very strange, I wasn't sure if it was environmental factors or if they had actually learned to fly off eachother. I wanted to prove it one way or another so I picked up one of the beetles that I had just seen flying and put it in another culture, sure enough it tried to fly. The next day all of the mealworms in the 2nd culture were flying too.

So, are they learning off eachother?

 

[Gigas]

are you sure its not a maturiy thing?like the ones who start later are just one step behind. im not sure its learning but the coudl all be doing it for the sme reason, the crickets cos they want the love and the mealworms cos they wast the spread their kids around, both the things you have described happen naturally in the wild so i dont think the beetles have to go through a learning stage before they can do it, more instinct

 

[Cirith Ungol]

I doubt it is learning in either case.

- The crix: Other than quickly learning what T keepers get most annoyed with I doubt they are capable of any great feats of learning. What you described can just as well be interpreted in that way that only one (or a few) started chirping on their own accord. The chirping is (correct me if I'm wrong) a mating call. Who wants to be without a girl? So all chirp. Simple as that.

- Beetles: Many of the only occasionally flying insects (but also common spiderlings) wait for certain weather before they set off for a brief but intense flight. Why waste a lot of precious energy when you know the wind isn't right (no updraft), there is rain in the air or it's too hot... so if the weather is right most of the insects (or spiderlings) will go somewhere favourable, on a high peak and jump off (or let out a thread) and hope for the best. These are more often than not, only poor flyers (too bulky bodies, too heavy or too complicated to fold out the wings), so they need good flying conditions. So again, if the weather is right, you'll see hordes of them setting off at the same time. That one did it before the others only shows that you had a confused individual .

 

[Code Monkey]

Pretty much everything with two neurons to bounce against one another is capable of some type of learning. However, what you're describing isn't learning, but most likely triggered behaviors. The presence of other indivuals performing a stereo-typed behavior acts as impetus for other individuals to perform the same behavior.

In the case of the crickets, singing is a group competition for mates. It's not that one is leading the chorus, its just that once conditions become right, they're going to sing and, by definition, somebody has to start the kum-by-yah'ing.

The beetles is probably a aggregate movement behavior. A lot of beetles tend to arrive and leave together following cues that we aren't able to detect. Like sheep, it just takes the one equally dumb individual to do something different to trigger the others to go along.

 

[bugmankeith]

Yes they learn! Hard to explain because you had to be there, but a few loose crickets in my basement learned that when water spilt on the ground, I would drop a few food pellets for them to eat, and they would drag the food under a table and hide it for later, more like storing it just like squirrels do.

 

[maarrrrr]

:? :? :? :? :?

 

[Snipes]

As CM mentioned, it is possible, but it is more probable that is instinctual. However, i have noticed my mealies might seem to have some sort of ability to learn. A long time ago i had them in a cardboard box and they would climb up the walls. I got the idea to put tape on the walls, and a day later, a hundred climbing millipedes went to about two. They were at the bottom instead, working there. There was absolutely no temperature change. I wonder if after climbing and falling time after time they were able to associate wall with fall. I dunno, it was just a curious thing.

 

[Mr_Baker4420]

i would say that they can learn. when i have a few in with my p.irminia and one gets snatched up, they know to stay away from that part of the tank.

 

[Gigas]

Crickets will hide from movement and im think that crickets react to pheremone release, i think this because if i put a stressed cricket back into the cricket tub after if i take it out of a tank because it doesnt get eaten, the quiet tub spaks out and goes crazy for around half an hour. Crickets also prefer to walk around and away from my spiders webbing, dunno if its because it gets caught on their claws or if they can smell something on it.

Also just to rattle on a bit more, crickets dont react nearly as violently to a breze from say a fan blowing over them as to ne breathing over them, i would like to think my breath isnt that noxious as to scare them off, but they may be sensing chemical imbalances in the air

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Also just to rattle on a bit more, crickets dont react nearly as violently to a breze from say a fan blowing over them as to ne breathing over them, i would like to think my breath isnt that noxious as to scare them off, but they may be sensing chemical imbalances in the air

Increased CO2 ammounts...

 

[Gigas]

Increased CO2 ammounts...

Like the bees!

 

[zinto]

Also just to rattle on a bit more, crickets dont react nearly as violently to a breze from say a fan blowing over them as to ne breathing over them, i would like to think my breath isnt that noxious as to scare them off, but they may be sensing chemical imbalances in the air

Yeah, aphids do the same thing. Many of them will fall off of whatever they are on when you breathe on them (increased CO2). They've evolved to realize that this means danger.

 

[Gigas]

Im gonna go run around and go breathe on stuff now,