Just a few random tips
- REARING: DO NOT put bamboo skewers in containers to give young nymphs help in climbing from the bottom back up to the plants. I learned the hard way that except for the very high-end natural skewers, these sticks are likely treated with chemicals to prevent ‘insect infestations’ and growth of mold. [For several years, I was finding dead very young nymphs, or nymphs that were just not thriving in my containers. I resorted to watching them emerge and then releasing them.]
2. REARING: DO NOT put plastics in the containers with Pine tree cricket or Davis’ nymphs. Some plastics have chemicals/properties that mimic pine sap! [My nymphs survived, but looked sickly, and I released them. These two species were the only two I witnessed ‘nibbling’ on the plastic caps of water bottles that I used to hold water or cricket food powder.]
3. REARING: DO NOT use Mrs. Meyer’s soap to clean any containers or articles in the containers. They contain chemicals that kill insects.
4. FINDING NYMPHS: If it is early in the season for nymphs in your area, and a windy weather event occurs, go out as soon as it is safe to do so to look for young nymphs climbing back up tree trunks. The tiny ones of Narrow-winged, Two-spotted, Davis’, Snowy, and more, can lose their grip in strong wind and fall to the ground. Their instinct is to climb, so they search for the nearest tree or shrub or plant.
5. FINDING NYMPHS: If you find one nymph in a tree or shrub, it’s worth taking the time to look for more. Females don’t lay one egg per tree, and in fact would likely put six or more in a single branch.
6. WITNESSING EMERGENCE: I have the most experience with Forbes’ tree crickets, and the majority of the time they emerge early in the morning (i.e. 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.) I suspect they time their emergence from the stem when it is still somewhat dark in an effort to avoid being easily seen by predators, but close to sunrise in order to warm up quickly.
