TREE CRICKETS

My plan is to make short posts every day with photos, recordings, videos and links — a tree cricket tidbit a day. Topics will include: history, species, anatomy, life cycle, eggs, nymphs, instar stages, adults, songs, habitat, locations, behaviors…essentially things found on this website but most in a bit more detail. Over the past 16 years I have accumulated thousands of photos, recordings and videos – and this blog seems like the best way to share them. I am also hoping to follow the development of a tree cricket or two from egg to ovipositing the next generation.

Below shows the topics under A Year of Tree Cricket Blogging.

Thank you for reading. Nancy

p.s. Please bear in mind that I am not the world’s best photographer 😉

JANUARY – Basics

JAN 1 – The First Encounter;

JAN 2 – The 1750 Encounter in 2018;

JAN 3 – First Description of a Tree Cricket;

JAN 4 – Ancient Amber Specimens;

JAN 5 – My Early Encounters;

JAN 6 – An Obsession is Born;

JAN 7 – Often Heard but Rarely Known;

JAN 8 – Tree Crickets Through the Microscope;

JAN 9 – Dr. BB Fulton and My Tree Cricket Bible;

JAN 10 – Dr. Thomas J. Walker & SINA website;

JAN 11 –  BugGuide.net’s Value in Tree Cricketing;

JAN 12 – iNaturalist.org – A World Database;

JAN 13 – Orthoptera Species File – Database of Orthoptera;

JAN 14 – Journal of Orthoptera Research & The Orthopterists’ Society;

JAN 15 – Collections;

JAN 16 – Oviposition – Ensuring the Next Generation;

JAN 17 – Stems;

JAN 18 – Diapause;

JAN 19 – Eggs;

JAN 20 – Hatching;

JAN 21 – Caput Fluidum;

JAN 22 – Early Nymphs;

JAN 23 – Opening Old Stems;

JAN 24 – Parasitic and paralyzing wasps;

JAN 25 – Mites;

JAN 26 – Thrips & Fairyflies;

JAN 27 – Worms & Flies;

JAN 28 – Maps;

JAN 29 – Keys to US Tree Crickets;

JAN 30 – Habitats and Host Plants;

JAN 31 – Tree Cricket Collage

FEBRUARY – Anatomy

FEB 1 – Tegmina;

FEB 2 – Stridulatory Teeth & File;

FEB 3 – Colors;

FEB 4 – Antennae;

FEB 5 – Eyes;

FEB 6 – Tympanal Membranes;

FEB 7 – Femora and Tibiae;

FEB 8 – Claws and Exoskeleton;

FEB 9 – Limb Markings and Coloring

FEB 10 – Pronotum;

FEB 11 – Metanotal Gland;

FEB 12 – Oecanthus Abdomen;

FEB 13 – Setae and Cerci;

FEB 14 – Neoxabea Tubercles;

FEB 15 – Antennal Filaments;

FEB 16 – Subgenital Plate;

FEB 17 – Internal Genital;

FEB 18 – Spermatophore;

FEB 19 – Female Openings and Spermatophores;

FEB 20 – Transferring the Spermatophore;

FEB 21 – Eating the Spermatophore;

FEB 22 – Gravid Females;

FEB 23 – Ovipositor;

FEB 24 – Mouth Palpi;

FEB 25 – Eating and Chewing;

FEB 26 – Grooming;

FEB 27 – Flying and Leaping;

FEB 28 – Vision ?

MARCH – Species

MAR 1 – US Species;

MAR 2 – Different-horned (Oecanthus varicornis);

MAR 3 – Walker’s (Oecanthus walkeri);

MAR 4 – Alexander’s (Oecanthus alexanderi);

MAR 5 – Brownsville (Neoxabea formosa);

MAR 6 – Thin-lined (Oecanthus leptogrammus);

MAR 7 – Western (Oecanthus californicus);

MAR 8 – Great (Oecanthus major);

MAR 9 – Texas (Oecanthus texensis);

MAR 10 – Riley’s (Oecanthus rileyi);

MAR 11 – Snowy (Oecanthus fultoni);

MAR 12 – Fast-calling (Oecanthus celerinictus);

MAR 13 – Four-spotted (Oecanthus quadripunctatus);

MAR 14 – Prairie (Oecanthus argentinus);

MAR 15 – Davis’ (Oecanthus exclamationis);

MAR 16 – Narrow-winged (Oecanthus niveus);

MAR 17 – Sage (Oecanthus salvii);

MAR 18 – White Sands (Oecanthus beameri);

MAR 19 – Two-spotted (Neoxabea bipunctata);

MAR 20 – Black-horned (Oecanthus nigricornis);

MAR 21 – Forbes’ (Oecanthus forbesi);

MAR 22 – Pine (Oecanthus pini);

MAR 23 – Tamarack (Oecanthus laricis);

MAR 24 – Broad-winged (Oecanthus latipennis);

MAR 25 – Oecanthus comma;

MAR 26 – Mexican (Neoxabea mexicana);

MAR 27 – Cri-cri (Oecanthus rohinae);

MAR 28 – Colorado Pine (?);

MAR 29 – Baja;

MAR 30 – Big Bend Texas;

MAR 31 – Others of Interest

APRIL – Songs

APR 1 – Mechanics of Singing;

APR 2 – Waveform Basics;

APR 3 – Pulses & Patterns;

APR 4 – Frequency Spectrograms;

APR 5 – Baffles;

APR 6 – Direction of Sound;

APR 7 – Where the Tree Crickets Sing;

APR 8 – 3rd Floor Balcony Menagerie;

APR 9 – Chorusing;

APR 10 – Warm-Up Clicking;

APR 11 – Song Graphs;

APR 12 – Multiple Species Singing;

APR 13 – Oecanthus alexanderi song;

APR 14 – Oecanthus walkeri song;

APR 15 – Oecanthus varicornis song;

APR 16 – Neoxabea bipunctata song;

APR 17 – Oecanthus niveus song;

APR 18 – Oecanthus exclamationis song;

APR 19 – Oecanthus texensis song;

APR 20 – Oecanthus californicus song;

APR 21 – Oecanthus latipennis song;

APR 22 – Oecanthus fultoni and rileyi song;

APR 23 – Oecanthus celerinictus song;

APR 24 – Oecanthus quadripunctatus song;

APR 25 – Oecanthus beameri song;

APR 26 – Oecanthus salvii song;

APR 27 – Oecanthus argentinus song;

APR 28 – Oecanthus pini and laricis songs;

APR 29 – Oecanthus forbesi song;

APR 30 – Oecanthus nigricornis song

MAY – World Species

MAY 1 – Otomi tree cricket (Oecanthus mhatreae);

MAY 2 – Cri-Cri tree cricket (Oecanthus rohiniae);

MAY 3 – Mexican tree cricket (Neoxabea mexicana);

MAY 4 – Nicaragua tree cricket (Neoxabea cerrojesusensis);

MAY 5 – Otte’s tree cricket (Neoxabea ottei);

MAY 6 – Baker’s tree cricket (Oecanthus bakeri);

MAY 7 – Belt’s tree cricket (Oecanthus belti);

MAY 8 – Golden tree cricket (Oecanthus symesi);

MAY 9 – Thin-lined tree cricket (Oecanthus leptogrammus);

MAY 10 – Allard’s tree cricket (Oecanthus allardi);

MAY 11 – Oecanthus comma

MAY 12 – Brownsville tree cricket (Neoxabea formosa);

MAY 13 – Great tree cricket (Oecanthus major);

MAY 14 – Oecanthus jamaicensis;

MAY 15 – Oecanthus prolatus;

MAY 16 – Oecanthus pallidus;

MAY 17 – Oecanthus pictus;

MAY 18 – Other South American Oecanthus;

MAY 19 – Neoxabea enodis;

MAY 20 – Neoxabea meridionalis;

MAY 21 – Other Neoxabea;

MAY 22 – Xabea;

MAY 23 – Australian Oecanthus;

MAY 24 – Hawaiian Species;

MAY 25 – Indian species;

MAY 26 – Oecanthus longicauda;

MAY 27 – Other Asian Oecanthus species;

MAY 28 – Oecanthus sycomorus;

MAY 29 – Cape Thermometer Cricket (Oecanthus capensis);

MAY 30 – Other African species;

MAY 31 – European species

JUNE – Miscellaneous and New Nymphs

JUN 1 – Cicadas and Crickets CD;

JUN 2 – Nymphs;

JUN 3 – Nymph Abdomen Patterns;

JUN 4 – Comparison of Instar Abdomen Patterns;

JUN 5 – Goldenrod Stem Oviposition Marks;

JUN 6 – Stems;

JUN 7 – Past Inventory;

JUN 8 – 2021 Emergence of a Nymph;

JUN 9 – Still Looking for a Live Nymph;

JUN 10 – S T I L L Looking for a Live Nymph;

JUN 11 – Nymphs

JUN 12 – Today’s Unsuccessful Search 🙁

JUN 13 – Weather Pros and Cons;

JUN 14 – Still No Nymphs;

JUN 15 – Still Searching;

JUN 16 – FIRST NYMPH;

JUN 17 – More LIVE Nymphs – live emerging video;

JUN 18 – No Nymphs Emerged Today;

JUN 19 – Drawings of Instar Stages and Adult by Bentley Ball Fulton;

JUN 20 – Where’s the Nymph?

JUN 21 – Another Nymph;

JUN 22 – Caput Fluidum;

JUN 23 – Scampering Nymph;

JUN 24 – Unsuccessful Emergence 🙁

JUN 25 – Found Nymph;

JUN 26 – Missing Eggs;

JUN 27 – An Intervention That MAY Have Worked

JUN 28 – Newly Emerged Grooming

JUN 29 – Nymph Nibbling vs Drinking

JUN 30 – Another Caput Fluidum Picture

JULY – More Nymph Photos & Videos

JUL 1 – So Young but So Fast;

JUL 2 – Nymph Jumping;

JUL 3 – Emerging and Exploring;

JUL 4 – Scampering Up a Stem with Elves Music 😉

JUL 5 – King of the Hill

JUL 6 – Slightly Older Appearance;

JUL 7 – Another New Nymph Emerging;

JUL 8 – Video of the Moment of Release from Egg;

JUL 9 – Two (?Three) Newish Nymphs on Vegetation;

JUL 10 – Newest Nymph (Oecanthus forbesi);

JUL 11 – Older Nymph;

JUL 12 – Climbing to the Top;

JUL 13 – A Thirsty Nymph;

JULY 14 – Using Feelers;

JUL 15 – Looking Like a Big-Headed Toddler 😉

JUL 16 – Neoxabea Nymphs;

JUL 17 – Oecanthus niveus Nymphs;

JUL 18 – Early Wing Buds;

JUL 19 – First View of Developing Wings;

JUL 20 – Finding Antennae First;

JUL 21 – Unsuccessful Emergence

JUL 22 – Random Nymph;

JUL 23 – Alexander’s Nymph;

JUL 24 – Pine tree cricket Nymph;

JUL 25 – Nymph on Hazelnut;

JUL 26 – A Pair of Siblings;

JUL 27 – Neoxabea bipunctata Female Nymph;

JUL 28 – Finding a Snowy Colony;

JUL 29 – Early Metanotal Gland?

JUL 30 – 5th instar Neoxabea female

JUL 31 – Videos

AUGUST – Tree Crickets on Plants

AUG 1 – Nymph on Thistle;

AUG 2 – Forbes’ Tree Cricket on Corn ! ;

AUG 3 – Forbes’ Tree Cricket on Milkweed;

AUG 4 – Forbes’ Tree Cricket on Raspberry;

AUG 5 – Pine Tree Cricket Nymph on Viburnum;

AUG 6 – Forbes’ Tree Cricket on Hazelnut;

AUG 7 – Pine Tree Cricket on Sow Thistle;

AUG 8 – Two-spotted Nymph on Tamarack;

AUG 9 – Narrow-winged on Box Elder;

AUG 10 – Nymph on Grass;

AUG 11 – Four-spotted on Monarda;

AUG 12 – Forbes’ Nymph on Monarda;

AUG 13 – Forbes’ Nymph on Joe Pye Weed;

AUG 14 – Female Exploring Pipevine;

AUG 15 – Male Forbes’ Singing on Smartweed;

AUG 16 – Adult Female Snowy on Banana !

AUG 17 – Forbes’ Male Singing on Asters;

AUG 18 – Narrow-winged Male Singing on Plum;

AUG 19 – Snowy Nymph on Hazelnut;

AUG 20 – Singing Forbes’ on Viburnum;

AUG 21 – Forbes’ Male on Giant Sunflower;

AUG 22 – Four-spotted on Coleus;

AUG 23 – Narrow-winged Male on Potted Coleus;

AUG 24 – Broad-winged Nymph on Raspberry;

AUG 25 – Different-horned Male on Plant in Grasses;

AUG 26 – Female Forbes’ Drinking From Cup Plant Pool;

AUG 27 – Snowy Nymph on Potted Geranium;

AUG 28 – Four-spotted Male Singing on French Broom;

AUG 29 – Forbes’ Male on Catmint;

AUG 30 – Pine Male on Yew;

AUG 31 – Two-spotted Male on Marigold;

SEPTEMBER – Singing and Mating

SEP 1 – Baffling Behavior 😉

SEP 2 – Baffle Holes Up Close;

SEP 3 – Size of Baffle Hole;

SEP 4 – One Male’s Two Baffle Holes;

SEP 5 – A Male Using the Baffle Hole He Created;

SEP 6 – A Male Narrow-winged Using a Baffle Hole;

SEP 7 – Neoxabea bipunctata Mating Chaos;

SEP 8 – Photos of Mating Neoxabeans;

SEP 9 – Oecanthines Mating;

SEP 10 – Pine Pair with Spermatophore;

SEP 11 – Singing Heart;

SEP 12 – Forbes’ Pair – Clip #1;

SEP 13 – Forbes’ Pair – Clip #2;

SEP 14 – Forbes’ Pair – Clip #3;

SEP 15 – Movements of Male Hindwings;

SEP 16 – More Hindwings Movements;

SEP 17 – Spermatophore Transfer;

SEP 18 – The Spermatophore;

SEP 19 – Slow Motion Transfer of Spermatophore;

SEP 20 – Movement of an Attached Spermatophore;

SEP 21 – A Female Removing a Spermatophore;

SEP 22 – Walker’s Tree Cricket Female Eating a Spermatophore;

SEP 23 – Male’s Task to Prolong Drainage;

SEP 24 – A Male’s Frantic Search;

SEP 25 – Male Interference;

SEP 26 – Mouth Appendages Movements;

SEP 27 – A Female’s Escape;

SEP 28 – Song Differences;

SEP 29 – Question About the Process;

SEP 30 – Texas Tree Crickets Mating

OCTOBER – OVIPOSITION

OCT 1 – Oviposition Secretions;

OCT 2 – Chewing the Outer Layer;

OCT 3 – Dr. Fulton’s Description of Ovipositing;

OCT 4 – Oviposition Drawings by Dr. Bentley B. Fulton;

OCT 5 – Plants for Oviposition;

OCT 6 – Oviposited Stems;

OCT 7 – Collage of Stems;

OCT 8 – O. californicus on Broom Stem;

OCT 9 – Oviposition Openings;

OCT 10 – Dozens of Holes in One Stem;

OCT 11 – Snowy Tree Crickets Ovipositing Into Hazelnut Shrubs;

OCT 12 – Snowy Tree Cricket Oviposition Marks;

OCT 13 – Narrow-winged Oviposition Marks;

OCT 14 – Texas and Alexander’s Oviposition Marks;

OCT 15 – Varicornis Species Group Oviposition Marks;

OCT 16 – Nigricornis Species Group Oviposition Marks;

OCT 17 – Side View of Plugs;

OCT 18 – Joe Pye Weed Oviposition Holes;

OCT 19 – Oecanthus pini Holes on False Cypress;

OCT 20 – Oecanthus quadripunctatus Oviposition Holes;

OCT 21 – Cup Plant Oviposition Holes;

OCT 22 – Neoxabea bipunctata Oviposition;

OCT 23 – Russian Sage Oviposition Holes and Plugs;

OCT 24 – White Sands Tree Cricket Oviposition Holes;

OCT 25 – Eggs Oviposited into Slender Grapevine;

OCT 26 – Pre and Post Emergence;

OCT 27 – Well-plugged Holes;

OCT 28 – Crabapple Holes;

OCT 29 – Grapevine Holes;

OCT 30 – Grooming of Ovipositor;

OCT 31 – Oviposition

NOVEMBER – SONG GRAPHS

NOV 1 – Oecanthus varicornis (Different-horned tree cricket);

NOV 2 – Oecanthus texensis (Texas tree cricket);

NOV 3 – Oecanthus californicus (Western tree cricket);

NOV 4 – Oecanthus latipennis (Broad-winged tree cricket) – varicornis species group;

NOV 5 – The Varicornis Species Group;

NOV 6 – Neoxabea bipunctata (Two-spotted tree cricket);

NOV 7 – Oecanthus niveus (Narrow-winged tree cricket);

NOV 8 – Oecanthus exclamationis (Davis’ tree cricket);

NOV 9 – The Niveus species group and Neoxabea;

NOV 10 – Oecanthus walkeri (Walker’s tree cricket);

NOV 11 – Oecanthus quadripunctatus (Four-spotted tree cricket);

NOV 12 – Oecanthus nigricornis (Black-horned tree cricket);

NOV 13 – Oecanthus argentinus (Prairie tree cricket);

NOV 14 – Oecanthus celerinictus (Fast-calling tree cricket);

NOV 15 – Oecanthus forbesi (Forbes’ tree cricket);

NOV 16 – Oecanthus pini (Pine tree cricket);

NOV 17 – Oecanthus laricis (Tamarack tree cricket);

NOV 18 – Oecanthus beameri (White Sands tree cricket);

NOV 19 – Oecanthus salvii (Sage tree cricket);

NOV 20 – The Nigricornis Species Group;

NOV 21 – Five Slow Trillers (Southwest): O. walkeri, O. quadripunctatus, O. texensis, O. californicus, O. argentinus;

NOV 22 – Six Slow Trillers (East): O. quadripunctatus, O. nigricornis, O. laricis, O. argentinus. O. pini, O. latipennis

NOV 23 – Five Slow Trillers (West): O. quadripunctatus, O. salvii, O. californicus, O. beameri, O. argentinus

NOV 24 – Fast Trillers: O. celerinictus, O. forbesi, O. varicornis‘

NOV 25 – Two Potentially New Species: O. c. pictipennis and a ‘Pine’ from Colorado;

NOV 26 – European Species;

NOV 27 – Asia and Australia Species;

NOV 28 – North American Neoxabea and Nicaragua Oecanthus;

NOV 29 – Logarithmic Trendlines of US Trillers;

NOV 30 – Linear and Logarithmic Trendlines of US Trillers

DECEMBER-MISCELLANEOUS

DEC 1 – A Story Book from Japan;

DEC 2 – Wisconsin Entomological Society Newsletter;

DEC 3 – Simpler Times – Willis S. Blatchley;

DEC 4 – Chopard’s 1932 Key to African Species;

DEC 5- Toms & Otte Africa Paper;

DEC 6 – An Amazing Video;

DEC 7 – Tool-making in Australia by Xabeans;

DEC 8 – Singing Oecanthus longicauda;

DEC 9 – Fast Chirper from Brazil;

DEC 10 – Capturing Tree Crickets in Japan;

DEC 11 – Citizen Scientist Articlesl

DEC 12 – Oecanthus californicus pictipennis;

DEC 13 – Online Entomology Courses;

DEC 14 – Evolution of Articles;

DEC 15 – The SONG Lab;

DEC 16 – The MHATRE Lab;

DEC 17 – Microsoft Bing AI Chat – Oecanthinae;

DEC 18 – Darwin;

DEC 19 – Listening in Nature blog;

DEC 20 – Islands;

DEC 21 – 129-Year Evolution of Counting Chirps;

DEC 22 – Rearing and Plastics Heads Up & Questionl

DEC 23 – Taxonomy Changes in 2022;

DEC 24 – The Mesmerizing Call of Neoxabea bipunctata on a Cool Evening;

DEC 25 – A Newborn Tree Cricket;

DEC 26 – Borrowing a Baffle;

DEC 27 – Snowy on Geranium;

DEC 28 – Close Up of Ovipositor Movements;

DEC 29 – Four-spotted Tree Cricket Video;

DEC 30 – Snowy Tree Cricket Singing

DEC 31 – Best Singer Ever !