Singing Insects as Pets
Bringing the songs of insects indoors is rewarding and educational. You will be surprised how nice it is to have your favorite singers in your home placed in strategic locations. The wonderful mix of sounds is soothing and very enjoyable.
Some of our favorite singers that create wonderful sounds for you to enjoy indoors are; Common Virtuoso Katydid, Woodland Meadow Katydid, Handsome or Black-leggd Meadow Katydid, Rattler or Clicker Round-winged Katydid, Northern Bush Katydid, as well as any of the ground and tree crickets.
It couldn’t be easier to keep these songsters as pets. A simple cage, iceburg lettuce, and a regular cage cleaning routine are all you need. An attractive cage can be made using the following: 1) lids of canning jars, 2) metal window screening that is dark in color, 3) some plaster of Paris, 4) electrical or duct tape, 5) a stapler, 6) a glue gun.
Here is how to do it: Using a hot glue gun, seal the flat top of the canning lid to the outside of the screw ring. Make certain that the seal is complete. You will need two of these lid units for one cage. Cut a portion of the window screening with scissors to 4 5/8 inches by 11 inches. Cover the cut edges of the screen with electrical or duct tape. Loop the screen into a tube and secure the ends together using a stapler.
Make certain that the screen tube fits snuggly into the canning lid at both ends. If you are making more than one cage, prepare enough of the above materials for all of the cages that you wish to make. Once you have all of the lids and tubes ready, mix up the plaster of Paris per the instructions on the box. For the bottom of each cage, pour enough plaster into a sealed lid to fill it to within a ¼ inch from the top. Insert the screen tube into the wet plaster and push it down as far as it will go. Once the plaster has hardened you can place the top lid on the cage and you are ready to go. If the lid is too loose add another layer of tape around the top edge. If you are handy with a sewing machine you can use basting to finish the top edge of the screen for a more professional look.
Cleaning these cages is very simple. Invert the cage slowly so that the insect can crawl upwards toward the bottom of the cage. All of the frass (waste) and old lettuce will now be in the lid. Carefully remove the lid and place the cage top down on a flat surface while you dump the waste and add fresh lettuce. With the lid on the flat surface carefully pick up the cage and place it into the lid and now invert the whole assembly back to the upright position. There you have it, a clean cage with fresh food, and the insect is still where he belongs.
Our Insect Musicians:
Thumbnail Guide to All Species
Navigate to Species Pages:
Spring and Fall Field Cricket
Southern Wood Cricket
Southeastern Field Cricket
Eastern Striped Cricket
Japanese Burrowing Cricket
Ground Crickets (Nemobiinae):
Allard’s Ground Cricket
Carolina Ground Cricket
Confused Ground Cricket
Striped Ground Cricket
Southern Ground Cricket
Sphagnum Ground Cricket
Variegated Ground Cricket
Spotted Ground Cricket
Tinkling Ground Cricket
Cuban Ground Cricket
Tree Crickets (Oecanthinae):
Black-horned Tree Cricket
Forbes’s Tree Cricket
Broad-winged Tree Cricket
Davis’s Tree Cricket
Fast-calling Tree Cricket
Four-spotted Tree Cricket
Narrow-winged Tree Cricket
Pine Tree Cricket
Snowy Tree Cricket
Two-spotted Tree Cricket
Trigs and Bush Crickets (Eneopterinae & Trigonidiinae):
Jumping Bush Cricket
Columbian Trig
Handsome Trig
Say’s Trig
Thomas’s Trig
Slow-tinkling Trig
Mole Crickets (Gryllotalpidae):
Northern Mole Cricket
Southern Mole Cricket
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Saltmarsh Meadow Katydid
Short-winged Meadow Katydid
Slender Meadow Katydid
Woodland Meadow Katydid
Black-sided Meadow Katydid
Long-tailed Meadow Katydid
Straight-lanced Meadow Katydid
Agile Meadow Katydid
Dusky-faced Meadow Katydid
Stripe-faced Meadow Katydid
Nimble Meadow Katydid
Black-legged Meadow Katydid
Common Meadow Katydid
Gladiator Meadow Katydid
Handsome Meadow Katydid
Lesser Pine Meadow Katydid
Long-spurred Meadow Katydid
Red-headed Meadow Katydid
Coneheads (Copiphorinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Round-tipped Conehead
Nebraska Conehead
Robust Conehead
Slightly Musical Conehead
Sword-bearing Conehead
False Robust Conehead
Marsh Conehead
Black-nosed Conehead
True Katydids (Pseudophyllinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Common True Katydid
False Katydids (Phaneropterinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Clicker Round-winged Katydid
Common Virtuoso Katydid
Rattler Round-winged Katydid
Oblong-winged Katydid
Great Angle-wing
Lesser Angle-wing
Broad-winged Bush Katydid
Curved-tailed Bush Katydid
Fork-tailed Bush Katydid
Northern Bush Katydid
Texas Bush Katydid
Treetop Bush Katydid
Modest Katydid
Shield-backed Katydids (Tettigoniinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
American Shieldback
Least Shieldback
Protean Shieldback
Robust Shieldback
Roesel’s Katydid
Band-winged Grasshoppers (Oedipodinae):
Boll’s & Carolina Grasshoppers
Marsh Meadow Grasshopper