RESEARCH REPORT
Introduction
Crickets are common insects that can live almost anywhere. They
have long been considered good luck charms and their chirping is known
worldwide as beautiful background music.
Natural insecticides have been used for over 5000 years and have always
been an effective way to rid crops of annoying pest while not polluting
the environment.
Crickets
This insects basic anatomy is the same as any insect with the usually
head with antennae, head, thorax and abdomen. They produced their
trademark chirping sound by rubbing a ridge on the back on their hind legs
on a ribbed part on their wing.
The house cricket was introduced from Europe and is about 3/4" in long,
light brown to yellowish in color with dark bands behind its head.
Field crickets are about 1" long and live mainly outdoors but will still
become pests in the house when it gets colder, but usually they cannot
adapt in the inside and will die.
Cricket females lay their eggs singly, house crickets in cracks and
crevices and field crickets in the soil. The eggs wait out the winter
in egg form until spring. Upon hatching they will molt 5-9 times before
they are mature.
Caring for Crickets
If you ever want to have crickets as pets there are a few things you
want to do if you ever want them to live longer then a few days.
First you need to have a proper cage for them; you may want to have a screen
on top on the cage to have good circulation but while not letting them
to jump out. The usually way to give them water is to cut a sponge
into _ and wet it with tap water. They eat fresh fruits and vegetables
such as carrots, tomatoes that are sliced and evil pizzas that want to
take over the world.
Pyrethrum
The Pyrethrum flower is a perennial plant thats normal life span is
about 3 years and can grow up to 15 in. high. Pyrethrum extract is
the natural extract from the pyrethrum flowers. The extract contains about
25% of the active pyrethrins that make it effective. The Pyrethrum flower
provides good protection against mosquitoes, by doing so it helps prevent
diseases such as malaria and Yellow fever. Pyrethrum is effective
because it almost instantly attack the nervous system in insects and causes
nearly instant death.
Neem Tree Oil
The Neem Tree is a species of African tree that has been used for medical
purposes for over 5000 years. It has many properties such as anti-viral,
anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory.
Its kernels though, when crushed and turned in oil, is a very effective
insecticide.
Advantages of Organic farming
Organic farming is becoming more and more widely used recently because
of the way insecticides have been so harmful to the environment, such as
all the run off pesticides into rivers and polluting the food they are
spraying. If more people would which to organic farming many researchers
believe that the overall populace would be healthier and would be at a
much less risk of becoming poisoned by toxins used for farming.
BIBLIOGRAPGHY
http://health.go2.net/index.asp?key=wormwood
http://www.bugpage.com/icp.html
http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod02/01500542.html
http://www.nf-2000.org/secure/Crops/S616.htm
http://www.seedman.com/pest.html
"Crickets" Microsoft Encarta 2000
"Crickets" World Book Encyclopedia, Pages 1130-1132
"Organic Farming" World Book Encyclopedia
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