DAYTON — You aren’t alone. Many across the United States have noticed an increase of this noisey and possibly soothing insecet. The weather actually plays a huge role in the increased population.
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Late summer and fall mark their peak mating season. Cooler overnight temperatures make them much more active. Wet conditions and warm weather foster native grasses and weeds, providing abundant food and encouraging larger populations.
As outdoor temperatures drop at night, these warmth-loving insects look for shelter, food, and moisture, leading them to crowd around homes and buildings.
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Even larger populations surge following hot, dry summers that break into cooler or wetter autumn weather. Dry conditions earlier in the season also reduce the natural soil fungi that typically kill off cricket eggs.
So, these wing singers are living thermometers?
According to Dolbear’s Law, you can estimate the temperature by counting a cricket’s chirps. As it gets warmer, they chirp faster.
Curious about Dolbear’s Law?
Amos E. Dolbear, first documented a relationship between the rate of a cricket’s chirps and the air temperature. In 1897, he published a mathematical equation, that enables you to calculate the air temperature by counting the number of cricket chirps you hear in a minute. Since then, other scientists have improved on Dolbear’s work by devising equations for different cricket species.