Adult crickets spend their days in shallow burrows beneath a stone, clod of dirt or a tuft of plant. They are most active during the night, and that is when males begin their nightly serenading to attract female mates. Females don’t stridulate, or rub special body structures together. A male cricket has a heavy vein with a row of teeth on the underside at the front of each wing. The top of one wing is used as a scraper against the underside of the other wing, like a fingernail drawn along the teeth of a comb.
This performance occurs with both wings elevated so that the wing membranes can act as sounding boards. The pitch of the chirps is slightly higher than the highest octave on a piano. Air temperature influences chirping rates: the warmer the night, the faster they chirp. There are special songs for courtship, fighting, and sounding an alarm.