Cricket Chirps and Temperature

Crickets “chirp” by rubbing their wings or legs over each other.  This phenomenon is known as stridulation.  It is a means by which male crickets “call” to females to communicate their interest in mating.

Did you know that you can “count” the number of chirps to get the temperature of your environment without ever looking at a thermometer? 

There are several chirp temperature formulas out there, but the most often cited one is from The Old Farmer’s Almanac that states:

To convert cricket chirps to degrees Fahrenheit, count the number of chirps in 14 seconds then add 40 to get the temperature.

⭐ (Ex. 30 chirps in 14 seconds + 40 = 70 degrees F)

To convert cricket chirps to degrees Celsius, count the number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4 to get the temperature.

⭐ (Ex. 48 chirps in 25 seconds / 3  + 4 = 20 degrees C)

This does closely approximate air temperature as found in research done by Dr. Peggy Lamone of GLOBE, a science program funded by NASA, NOAA and NSF.

Her results (greatly simplified) show that her findings of counting chirps (in 13 seconds plus 40) confirms the wisdom of The Old Farmer’s Almanac.