26 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

Anybody have any idea what's wrong with this cricket? It's eyes are all yellow.

 

 

[Gregory2455]

Parasite?

[antmaniac]

I am guessing some sort of parasitic virus? Similar to http://blogs.discove...m/#.VQamhmSUcrM

[AntsTexas]

i read something on a Parasite/fungi making ants turn into "zombie ants"

 

http://www.washingto...to-booby-traps/

[dspdrew]

Apparently this person (http://www.chameleon...t-image-111166/) got a few like that when they bought some feeder crickets. Someone suggested a mutation from too many generations of inbreeding. Some of these definitely have been inbred many many times. I do add new crickets to the bunch every once and a while though.

[kellakk]

It's probably just a random mutation.  If it acts normal, it'd be fun to try to breed a variety that look like that

[William. T]

In the wild crickets around my house, I have seen a few like that. I still have some in the freezer.

[dspdrew]

So a while back I found a male cricket in the bin with the same weird eyes. Well, now there are quite a few babies with the same funky eyes. I'm going to keep putting the yellow eyed crickets back into the breeding bin to see how many of them I can get.

[kellakk]

That's pretty cool, it must be genetic then. Does the defect make those crickets blind?

[dspdrew]

I'm not sure. I wondered about that, but they seem to be able to see. It would be kind of convenient though. For everyone but them of course.

[William. T]

If I were you, I would try to isolate them. See what happens. If the condition is a negative one, you don't want the weird crickets breeding with your good crickets and producing more funky eyed crickets.

[dspdrew]

I have plenty feeders. If that happened I would just keep pulling the yellow-eyed ones out first when it's feeding time.

[kellakk]

Crickets use their antennae and ears a lot, so they may seem functional even if they're blind.  

[dspdrew]

So I isolated the three yellow-eyed crickets I had left. There were two female and one male which was perfect. Well now there are tons of babies hatching, and every single one has yellow eyes.

 

 

 

 

[drtrmiller]

We got ourselves another Mendel, folks.

 

Really great job on this.  Not sure if this is just neat, or if there's some practical use for it.

 

Maybe you could figure out a way to make the perfect feeder for ants, next.

[dermy]

At least they look cool! Have you noticed anything off about them? If they are just normal, then I'd guess it's just a gene or something, much the same as blue eyes?

[dspdrew]

Yeah, they don't seem to be any different. Would be nice if they were blind, but that doesn't seem to be the case; these are just as much of a pain in the butt to catch. They sure look cool though.

[Roachant]

What species of cricket is that? They look different than the regular house crickets we have in pet stores here.

[dermy]

I think they are some species of Field Cricket? Or other wild native species from California.

[dspdrew]

Yes. They are field crickets, not house crickets. I hate the sound of house crickets, but I love the sound field crickets make.