A young house cricket

House crickets are varying shades of brown with dark eyes and a dark rugged line on the collar. They look very similar to the common field cricket, which usually is black. Shown here is a juvenile house cricket the wings of which have not yet grown out. Oddly, most crickets cannot fly even as adults because their wings are too small to carry their bulky little bodies. They travel by walking or crawling and hop like a grasshopper when startled.

A male house cricket will rub his wings together, making a "chirp" in order to attract a female.

Unlike the field cricket, which can survive winter cold by burrowing into the ground or under a log or rock, a house cricket needs a warm safe place to survive the winter. Often that warm place is inside a person's home.

The house cricket is a native of Europe that has been introduced to much of the world. In North America it is most prevalent east of the Rocky Mountains. The house cricket is widely sold in bait shops as fish bait. It is an angler's favorite for catching pan fish such as bluegill and sunfish.

Through the Woods is a weekly nature photo column by Aaron Horrell. Find his column at semissourian.com to order a reprint of the photo. Find more work by Aaron at The Painted Wren Gallery.