Below is a collection of photos and videos showing oviposited stems by female tree crickets.
This is a close-up view of a female Forbes’ tree cricket ovipositing into a stem of goldenrod. She had already fully drilled her ovipositor into the channel she created, withdrew it 75% of its length, and then drilled more until her ovipositor was again fully inserted. It is interesting to watch her abdominal movements – although we never actually see the egg. I had never before seen that there is also a release of a secretion – which must surely be responsible for keeping the chewed plant matter cap in place.
Below is a female Forbes’ tree cricket trying to conceal herself on the stem where she has oviposited several eggs.
This female Forbes’ tree cricket completes ovipositing and then shifts downward to seal up the hole.
This 3 ft long goldenrod stem has over 220 oviposition holes. It is unknown how many tree cricket females oviposited on this stem, perhaps one over several days – or perhaps more than one female.
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I generally inspect oviposited stems during the winter months following the season when all tree crickets would have emerged.
A census of oviposited stems in 2015 in SE Wisconsin on one acre of land revealed the following:
The undetermined outcomes could have been nymphs which emerged with the egg case fully protruding from the hole, or drilled holes where eggs were never inserted.
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This table lists the plants with tree cricket oviposition holes on the same acre in 2016:
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