[ Google Doc ]
Materials:
*Crickets can be obtained from bait stores or Amazon.
1. Gather your crickets from the cricket holding tank, make sure you have 4 males and 1 female - your teacher will tell you how to tell them apart. Use the paint to mark each of the males a different color. Leave the female unmarked.
2. Set up your cricket habitat. Put a potato slice in your aquarium, and a folded piece of cardboard (like a tent).
3. Place the female cricket in the container and observe it for 5 minutes. Write your observations below. Include where the cricket spent most of it time an any notable behavior it exhibits.
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4. Add the male crickets to the container and look for territorial or aggressive behavior. This includes chirping, stroking others with antennae, pushing others, or jumping on their backs. .
For each cricket, tally the
number of times it acted aggressively in the chart. For instance, if the
blue cricket charged a green cricket near the potato, you would put a
tally mark in that box
Locations
Where Aggression Was Observed |
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Cricket color | Potato
(Food) |
Tent |
Female |
Discussion:
1. Compare the anatomy of the female cricket to the male. How can you tell the difference?
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2. What behaviors did you notice among the male crickets and where were they most likely to occur?
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3. Suggust an evolutionary reason for territorial behavior in crickets.
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3. Do you think females would behave aggressively toward other females? Why or why not?
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