Riley’s

Oecanthus rileyi

Male Riley’s tree crickets have a musical chirping song. Their wide wings produce chirps that consist of two pulses, a very brief pause, and then 3 more pulses, another brief pause and then 3 more pulses. Some chirps may have another pause with 3 more pulses.

This male is singing in a warm temperature, thus his chirping is very rapid.

Riley’s tree crickets are very similar in song and appearance to Snowy tree crickets. One character that makes it easier to identify Riley’s is when the antennal markings on the first two segments are tiny black dots. Snowy can have smaller than usual black dots, but not this tiny.

Even if the markings on the second antennal segment look similar in size to those of Snowy tree cricket, the mark on the second segment of Riley’s is situated at the top of the white field on the segment rather than in the center.

Except for the smaller antennal markings, or displaced on the second segment, Riley’s and Snowy tree crickets look the same.

The nymphs are also similar to Snowy nymphs.

To see the original description: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/47188#page/89/mode/1up

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