  Cricket is a truculent insect with stiff and sharp teeth as a fighting
weapon. The structure and possible biomineralization of the cricket teeth are
always interested. Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction
and small angle X-ray scattering techniques were used to probe the element
distribution, possible crystalline structures and size distribution of
scatterers in cricket teeth. Scanning electron microscope was used to observe
the nanoscaled structure. The results demonstrate that Zn is the main heavy
element in cricket teeth. The surface of the cricket teeth has a crystalline
compound like ZnFe2(AsO4)2(OH)2(H2O)4. While, the interior of the teeth has a
crystalline compound like ZnCl2, which is from the biomineralization. The
ZnCl2-like biomineral forms nanoscaled microfibrils and their axial direction
points at the top of tooth cusp. The microfibrils aggregate random into
intermediate filaments, forming a hierarchical structure. A sketch map of the
cricket tooth cusp was proposed and a detailed discussion was given in this
paper.
