Interesting Insects

In the book Life on a Little-Known Planet, Howard Ensign Evans speaks of multiple insects and goes into greater detail about their history and uniqueness. One of these groups of insects that was my personal favorite was the cricket. The most interesting thing to me about crickets was how much there was to learn about these tiny creatures that I have always heard singing outside in the dark when I go to bed. The book goes into detail about how they sing and why, how males and females act during and before mating, and how they have been viewed by people throughout history, but what really intrigued me was not what crickets do for themselves but how humans used crickets for their personal gain. One of these ways was cricket fighting.

Youtube video found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25rm2UV2gkQ

Cricket fighting has been found most popular throughout the centuries in China and today you can find cricket fighting tournaments. Similar to cock fights and dog fights, money is on the line so the owner of the crickets has taken the time to train them for victory. One owner may actually train up to fifty or more crickets at a time since their lifespans are roughly a hundred days and many of these will go to tournaments together at the same time. Upon training, the owner is also found to use his own way of making each cricket stronger as well as feeding them a mixture of bean paste and water as part of a high-protein diet.

                                         
                                                       Two crickets engaged in battle

Once it is time to fight, each owner takes his cricket and places it into the fighting arena which is enclosed on  all sides to prevent escaping. The crickets are then rattled with small sticks or pieces of straw to get as much fighting spirit out of them as possible.  A fight to the death determines the winner and money is on the line.If a owner is to win one of the tournaments in the twenty five Chinese cities then they will advance to the finals held in Beijing. Winning the two-day National Cricket Fighting Championship is a hobby to some and more like a sport to others. However you view it, the tournament is highly competitive. It is said that some highly victorious crickets may be worth more than 1,500 American dollars (quite the sum of money for a little cricket).

Image found from:
http://slanchreport.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/this-aint-your-daddys-cricket-fights/

Information found from:
Life on a Little-Known Planet by Howard Ensign Evans
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2456031/Competitors-gather-China-National-Cricket-Fighting-Championships.html