How to Catch Crickets: A Few Practical Methods for Catching Crickets
Cricket fighting is an ancient Han Chinese folk pastime. Before introducing how to catch crickets, it must be stressed that, in order to let crickets pass from generation to generation and forever benefit humanity, crickets and other insect resources must be effectively protected. Their habitats must never be destroyed, and they must not be caught indiscriminately. Now let us take a look at how to catch crickets!
When to Catch Crickets
Wild crickets mostly mature in late summer and early autumn. Once the males mature, they begin to chirp, and hearing the chirping means it is the right time to catch them. Generally speaking, the three months of July, August and September are the best season for catching them, and catching them in the evening is best.
Where Crickets Live
Common crickets include the fighting cricket, the oily gourd cricket (velarifictorus), the coffin-head cricket (Loxoblemmus) and others. They live on the surface of fields, at the roots of weeds and crops, at the foot of the walls of village houses, and under piles of bricks and rubble. They often dig burrows to live in, or take shelter in ready-made wall cracks and stone crevices. Some hide in the layer of dead branches and fallen leaves or under coverings such as bricks and tiles, and they like dark, damp environments.
How to Catch Crickets
The most basic tools for catching crickets are various catching nets. The small conical nylon net covers sold on the market are suitable for crickets. You can also use a small-mouthed transparent plastic drink bottle: cut off the half with the mouth and cap to make an insect-catching cover. After following the chirping to find the exact burrow, you can wait with the net cover or plastic cover, then drive the insect out with a stalk of grass, a twig, or by pouring in water. If you can see a cricket resting on a plant, you can also catch it directly with a small net cover.
Principles for Catching Crickets
1. Catch crickets after they reach sexual maturity, and let them leave offspring in nature as much as possible, so the catching time should not be too early.
2. Catch adults, leave nymphs; catch males, leave females. Show mercy to crickets you do not need and release them on the spot; do not kill them for no reason.
3. The number caught must be restrained. Never catch them in a sweeping, wipe-out fashion, especially at the same location, and for rare species a certain wild population size must be maintained.
4. For crickets that live in burrows or hide away, try as much as possible not to destroy their "homes". For ground cover such as bricks, tiles and stones that have been turned over during catching, restore them to their original state to help the crickets "rebuild their homes" as quickly as possible.