DEAR JOAN: Some time ago you had an interesting exchange with a reader about crickets in Australia, I think, with the astonishing news about their amazingly quick evolution to a non-chirping existence.
Don’t crickets chirp to attract mates? How do they find each other after their fast-track evolution?
Incidentally we are surrounded by open space and neighbors who maintain landscaped gardens. We have not heard any crickets for the past few years. In previous years we always knew when spring definitely had arrived as all of a sudden the nights were alive with cricket chirping.
Chris Anderson, Bay Area
DEAR CHRIS: The silent crickets are in Hawaii, and the research is continuing on these quickly evolving crickets that evolved physically to prevent being killed by a parasitic fly that used the crickets’ own chirps to locate them.
The change in the wings makes it impossible for them to sing their mating song, which did pose a problem. The male cricket not only chirps to attract the female, he also sings her a love song in order to seal the deal.
At first, the silent crickets hung around with their chirping brothers, whose singing would attract the females to the area. Without a courting song, however, some of the females weren’t interested, but others decided to give the strong, silent guys a chance.
Over the years, as there have become fewer chirping crickets to act as matchmakers, the mating habits have changed with more females being willing to forgo the music. The silent males also have become more proactive, going out looking for love, rather than relying on love to find them.
As for your lack of crickets, it could be all those landscaped gardens around you, if the gardeners are using insecticides.
DEAR JOAN: I have one hummingbird feeder and one oriole feeder hanging close together in my yard. The orioles visit from time to time, however, the hummers visit daily. They drink a quart of nectar in two days.
If I miss a day, no one comes around and I think they have left, but when I replenish the supply I hardly get the feeder back up before they are buzzing over my head. They are so much fun to watch.
Are they drinking too much of this sugar water? Could it be harmful to them? There are a lot of them — up to a dozen at a time. The sugar water solution is a cup of sugar to 4 cups of water.
Pat Hattaway, Bay Area
DEAR PAT: Unlike humans, who will eat all the M&Ms in the bowl and go looking for more (I speak from experience), hummers eat only what they need to sustain themselves. Their fast metabolisms and all that flitting around requires them to eat small but frequent meals, not only of nectar but of insects, too.
Keep using the same recipe and keep the feeders clean, and the hummingbirds will continue to visit.
Almost there
The volunteers at Fix Our Ferals have been working tirelessly to raise money so they can reopen their clinic, which was closed in April. Now Maddie’s Fund has stepped in with an offer to match up to $50,000 in donations, through Oct. 15.
Fix Our Ferals has provided a tremendous service to our communities, spaying or neutering more than 20,000 neighbor cats in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. If you can afford to give even a little, now is the time.
To donate, visit the Fix Our Ferals website or give through a fund-raising portal, which charges a small service fee per donation.