Animal communication

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Why don’t female crickets chirp? – Avery, age 8, Los Angeles Insects communicate in lots of different ways, for many reasons. Some, such as butterflies and beetles, use color, patterns and other visual cues to attract mates or warn potential predators that they don’t taste very good. Others, like fireflies, use bioluminescence – light that they produce in their bodies – to attract potential mates. Still others send chemical signals to interact with other animals and plants, or to defend against predators. Insects also use sound to communicate, most often to attract mates. The ways in which they produce sounds can vary a lot, depending on what insect is making the sound. Ah, there’s the rub Mos...