What do you know about Fishbait Crickets?

Some fellow OB fellers know I work at a cricket farm. I've been here almost 20 years, straight outta LSU. I don't mess with the crickets much (we do other stuff that is related to the pet industry) but I figured some of you may be interested in some facts about the crickets we all used for fishbait growing up. (and even now)

The scientific name of the crickets you buy at bait shops and pet stores is Acheta domesticus aka the House Cricket.

They are originally from Southwestern Asia. They have been used in the States because they are much hardier than the crickets you find in the wild Stateside.

These crickets have a lifespan of only 8 weeks.

Crickets become very dormant when cold, and can survive several hours below freezing temps.

They grow wings at around 4 weeks. Only males can chirp, and they do so to attract females. Crickets actually produce different calls for different purposes. The calling song, which may be heard for distances up to a mile, helps the female find the male. Once she is near, the male switches to a courtship song to convince her to mate with him. And, in some cases, the male also sings a post-copulation celebratory song.

There has been a cricket virus going around the world wiping out entire cricket farms only affecting this particular species of crickets. Not much is known about this virus, but it has put a few farms out of business. Some farms have successfully started breeding another type of species. We have a colony of this species on standby in case we get the cricket virus.

Our customers range from small pet stores, large chain pet stores, fish bait stands, zoos, Universities, Disney World Animal Kingdom, Sea World and even the Smithsonian Institute. We sell millions each week.

Sales of fishbait crickets declined dramatically in Louisiana when gambling became legal.

Finally, you can tell the ambient temperature by counting chirps of a cricket. (Most of the time) To convert cricket chirps to degrees Fahrenheit, count number of chirps in 14 seconds then add 40 to get temperature.

Example: 30 chirps + 40 = 70° F


There you have it, all the things you wanted to know about crickets. Still IMO one of the very best fish baits in the world.