When Hollywood tried to make a cartoon cricket look cute, they ended up doing a complete makeover. Jiminy Cricket is the wrong color, has the wrong eyes and mouth, and even has the wrong number of legs. Hollywood did get something right- probably by sheer luck. They made him a singing boy cricket. In nature only males sing.

Crickets have always been looked on more favorably than most insects, probably because their "chirping" sounds more like human-made music than most insect noises do. Still, most people would prefer they made their music outdoors, in a park, or at least somewhere else rather than in their own home. (It can really get on your nerves sometimes!)

The sounds, which crickets make by rubbing their wings together, are their way of communicating. Some of the sounds are mating calls that attract females, others are danger signals.

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