Question #2- For what duration will 45 crickets lay eggs?
​
Sub question- How many will they produce daily and overall?
Sub question- When is the hatching rate highest?
2 batches of breeding crickets were started from the same culture. 45 female, 5 males in each breeding cage. One batch was dusted in sulfur before becoming adults, the 2nd was not treated. They were allowed to lay eggs for 10 days and the ELBs were moved into the same incubation cage and a new ELB inserted in its place. Each hatching ELB was set into its own escape proof container (a CD case) to track the hatching progress. Once hatching started, the crickets that left the ELB were put into a container and photographed so they could be counted. This procedure was done at the same time daily . In the graph, P1 is the first ELB of Plain (untreated) crickets, S1 was the first sulfured batch. Since the breeder cages were different there may be a few degrees difference in the heat source which affects development of the egg. ELB 5 was not graphed because of low numbers but is in the grid below the graph. Day 1 in the graph is the 11th day from when the first eggs were laid.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
P = Plain S = Dusted in Sulfur
1-4 is the sequence of the ELB. Every 10 days the ELB was replaced.
Totals for each ELB along with the average offspring per female in this period
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Keep in mind day from another experiment the eggs can take anywhere from 9 to 25 days to hatch and peak hatch is around day 12 (21 days incubation). Each ELB contained 10 days’ worth of egg laying so there is much overlap. Over their reproductive life each cricket lays over 1100 eggs.
​
Temperature affects the hatch rate drastically. The ELB for breeding is 99°f on the bottom and was 85°f at the top. The room was approximately 75°f. An instant read thermometer was used to obtain the temperatures. In the hatching cage the bottom of the ELB was 79° and the top was 75°f.
When combining all the ELBs hatching data over the entire hatching period, the apex is 21 days VS 12 for an individual ELB as shown in the graph below. This is because the residual hatching from group 1 and peak hatching from group 2 and early hatching from group 3 are all combined. The dip is not explained, but is probably from exodus strategies (some are slow and some quick to leave the ELB) of the pinheads.
Mites developed in the untreated cricket ELB on day 21 but not until day 41 for the sulfured even though the ELBs were in the same incubator. Daily changing the CD case may have slowed their progression between ELBs. Mites will crawl from ELB to ELB.
​
How the counting was accomplished. Try counting only 30 moving crickets. Now try 3,000.
Each ELB was kept its own Sterilite CD case. Daily, the pinheads that left the ELB were dumped into another container with a sheet of paper under it to stop reflection and then was photographed after the crickets had time to disperse (no longer in a clump) and before too many accumulated along the edges. The picture was then printed as a letter size picture on a laser printer. With a counting device in one hand and a marker in the other, the crickets were counted as each was marked off. There were more than I anticipated. I often asked myself often why 45 females? Live and learn.
Note: the ELB Medium used at that time was sifted potting soil, not ground coconut husks.
