You can see the metanotal gland as this male sings from tall grass. Forbes’ tree crickets vary in color. This male has a mostly green coloring.
This is also a Forbes’ tree cricket. Note the large amount of dark black. It is easy to confuse this with a Black-horned tree cricket. Both vary in color from all green to mostly black. Only differences in the song rate can ID males of both of these species. Females can not be ID’d – unless they are actively mating with an ID’d male. The formula of west of Ohio = Forbes’, and east of Ohio = Black-horned is no longer reliable in surrounding areas. Ohio has both species. Forbes’ has been ID’d by song analysis on the northern shore of Lake Erie, so the old rule of north of New York = Black-horned is no longer reliable.
These are both Forbes’ tree crickets found in Southeast Wisconsin.
A singing male’s metanotal gland
This is a male Forbes’ singing from a Canada goldenrod plant.
This video shows the moment of transfer of a spermatophore.
https://archive.org/details/canadianentomolo35ento/page/260/mode/2up?q=forbes