Temperature and the change of metabolic rates in crickets

Abstract

Ectotherms, like the Acheta domesticus house cricket, are greatly impacted by outside temperatures. Due to this dependency on the environment, metabolism can directly be influenced by changing the surrounding temperature. To illustrate this dependency, we measured the CO2 levels of a group of five crickets while altering the surrounding temperature. We recorded observations related to movement, activity, temperature and CO2 levels during all five trials. There is a definite correlation between temperature and metabolic rates of crickets showing direct causation of temperature change to slowing or increasing metabolic rate.