Summary
Big, shy Jerusalem crickets can't hear airborne sound, so they thump the ground to send messages underground. Deep Look shows how these insects drum to find each other in the dark.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
A Jerusalem cricket bangs its belly against the soil to make a drumming pattern that travels through the ground. Another cricket feels the thumps and drums back. Sensing vibrations through the ground is how they communicate where sound in the air won't work.
- How do Jerusalem crickets send messages to each other?
- Why is drumming through the ground useful underground and in the dark?
- How is feeling vibrations different from hearing a sound?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: drumming, vibration, signal, sense.
Try it: Knock a rhythm on the floor for a partner to feel and repeat. Write how the cricket sends messages through the ground.