<Li> Paragryllidae Desutter - Grandcolas, 1987 </Li> <P> Crickets (also known as "true crickets"), of the family Gryllidae, are insects related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers . The Gryllidae have mainly cylindrical bodies, round heads, and long antennae . Behind the head is a smooth, robust pronotum . The abdomen ends in a pair of long cerci (spikes); females have a long, cylindrical ovipositor . The hind legs have enlarged femora (thighs), providing power for jumping . The front wings are adapted as tough, leathery elytra (wing covers), and some crickets chirp by rubbing parts of these together . The hind wings are membranous and folded when not in use for flight; many species, however, are flightless . The largest members of the family are the bull crickets, Brachytrupes, which are up to 5 cm (2 in) long . </P> <P> More than 900 species of crickets are described; the Gryllidae are distributed all around the world except at latitudes 55 ° or higher, with the greatest diversity being in the tropics . They occur in varied habitats from grassland, bushes, and forests to marshes, beaches, and caves . Crickets are mainly nocturnal, and are best known for the loud, persistent, chirping song of males trying to attract females, although some species are mute . The singing species have good hearing, via the tympana (eardrums) on the tibiae of the front legs . </P> <P> Crickets often appear as characters in literature . The Talking Cricket features in Carlo Collodi's 1883 children's book, The Adventures of Pinocchio, and in films based on the book . The eponymous insect is central to Charles Dickens's 1845 The Cricket on the Hearth, as is the chirping insect in George Selden's 1960 The Cricket in Times Square . Crickets are celebrated in poems by William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Du Fu . They are kept as pets in countries from China to Europe, sometimes for cricket fighting . Crickets are efficient at converting their food into body mass, making them a candidate for food production . They are used as food in Southeast Asia, where they are sold deep - fried in markets as snacks . They are also used to feed carnivorous pets and zoo animals . In Brazilian folklore, crickets feature as omens of various events . </P>

Through what part of their body do crickets hear