World Species
MAY 31 – European species
The best way to tell the difference between Europe’s two species is by their song. One has a continuous trill and the other has short bursts of trilling. I no longer do identifications based on photos from Europe, as in my opinion there are many IDs of O. pellucens that could be O. dulcisonans and vice versa.
- Oecanthus pellucens
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128103
Here is the song of O. pellucens: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128103&SoundID=1410
- Oecanthus dulcisonans
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128085
Here is the song of O. dulcisonans: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128085&SoundID=2548
I am not an expert in European species, but I find it interesting that there are 27 species in Africa, 21 species in the US, 20 species in Asia, 7 in Australia, but only two species described from all of Europe. Southern Europe is at the same latitude as states in the US that have at least 5-6 species. Knowing how similar different species can look (pine vs tamarack, forbes’ vs black-horned, snowy vs Riley’s, and Texas vs different-horned), I think it would be interesting to get widespread DNA testing and song recordings at measured temperatures.
Tomorrow: May will mostly be focused on young nymphs….but until they start emerging here in Wisconsin, I will post other tidbits.
MAY 30 – Other African species
There are four genera of tree crickets in Africa: Oecanthus, Oecanthodes, Paraphasius and Viphyus.
This paper by Dr. Rob Toms and Dr. Daniel Otte is by far the best source of information for African tree crickets: New genera, species and records of East and southern African tree crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Oecanthinae) | Annals of the Transvaal Museum (journals.co.za)
I created this table using the above paper and information on OSF (Orthoptera Species File).
MAY 29 – Oecanthus capensis – Cape Thermometer Cricket
South Africa
One of the easier species from Africa to ID. They have striking colors, including dark strips down the sides of the abdomen. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&taxon_id=578741
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128069
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/122148#page/616/mode/1up (page 596)
https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.10520/AJA00411752_124 (page 478)
This is a chirping species, so the warmer the air, the faster the chirping. Unfortunately, no sound recordings have been posted on iNaturalist or the Orthoptera Species File. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/02541858.1992.11448264?needAccess=true&role=button
MAY 28 – Oecanthus sycomorus
Africa
I am highlighting this species because if you find a chirping tree cricket in a Sycamore fig tree and are in any of these places, it is likely Oecanthus sycomorus:
species Oecanthus sycomorus Toms & Otte, 1988: Orthoptera Species File
Dr. Rob Toms communicated to me that the unnamed species in this next article was Oecanthus sycomorus. The article mentions that this species occurred exclusively in the Sycamore fig, Ficus sycomorus L. An African tree cricket (Gryllidae: Oecanthinae) with two calls: The two calls and a female phonotaxis experiment (journals.co.za)
The subsequent description paper did indicate a few were found in other trees and bushes in areas where Sycamore-figs were not found. New genera, species and records of East and southern African tree crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Oecanthinae) | Annals of the Transvaal Museum (journals.co.za)
MAY 27 – Other Asian Oecanthus species
Oecanthus antennalis: species Oecanthus antennalis Liu, Yin & Xia, 1994: Orthoptera Species File
Oecanthus euryelytra: species Oecanthus euryelytra Ichikawa, 2001: Orthoptera Species File
Oecanthus euryelytra song: Identify · iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=needs_id%2Ccasual%2Cresearch&taxon_id=148912
Oecanthus indicus: species Oecanthus indicus Saussure, 1878: Orthoptera Species File
Oecanthus oceanicus: species Oecanthus oceanicus He, 2018: Orthoptera Species File
Oecanthus rufescens: species Oecanthus rufescens Serville, 1838: Orthoptera Species File
Oecanthus simulator: species Oecanthus similator Ichikawa, 2001: Orthoptera Species File
Oecanthus sinensis: species Oecanthus sinensis Walker, 1869: Orthoptera Species File
Oecanthus turanicus: species Oecanthus turanicus Uvarov, 1912: Orthoptera Species File
Oecanthus zhengi: species Oecanthus zhengi Xie, 2003: Orthoptera Species File
MAY 26 – Oecanthus longicauda
I am highlighting this species because if you find a female, in Asia, they are very easy to ID – females have a very long ovipositor. Even with extra long hindwings, the ovipositor extends well beyond. I point out in Asia because in Mexico and the SW US, Oecanthus major also has a very long ovipositor.
Males generally have long hindwings as well.
Here is its song: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=needs_id%2Ccasual%2Cresearch&taxon_id=148912
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&sounds&taxon_id=437733
The species name (‘long tailed’ in Latin) could be for the long hindwings on both species, or from the very long ovipositor on the female: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/ShowImage.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128094&ImageID=230513
MAY 25 – Indian species
There are four species of Oecanthus in India, and an undetermined number of species of Xabea.
species Oecanthus henryi Chopard, 1936: Orthoptera Species File
species Oecanthus rufescens Serville, 1838: Orthoptera Species File
species Oecanthus bilineatus Chopard, 1937: Orthoptera Species File
species Oecanthus indicus Saussure, 1878: Orthoptera Species File
This is a nice article of Oecanthus in India: The utility of song and morphological characters in delineating species boundaries among sympatric tree crickets of the genus Oecanthus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Oecanthinae): a numerical taxonomic approach (bioone.org)
Oecanthus henryi has been used in a number of papers:
It should be noted that Orthoptera Species File does not show Xabea occurring in India, but there are eight submissions on iNaturalist. None have as yet been ID’d to species.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6681&subview=map&taxon_id=633811
MAY 24 – Hawaiian species
Hawaii has three genera of tree crickets: Leptogryllus, Prognathogryllus and Thaumatogryllus. The numbers of species shown on OSF does not exactly match those shown in Dr. Daniel Otte’s book. (Perhaps a future project is to determine which and why.)
Here is a link to The Crickets of Hawaii by Daniel Otte: BOOKS (& MORE) – The Orthopterists’ Society (orthsoc.org)
Leptogryllus has 28 species: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/editTaxon/SearchForTaxon.aspx
Prognathogryllus has 38 species: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/editTaxon/SearchForTaxon.aspx
Thaumatogryllus has 4 species: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/editTaxon/SearchForTaxon.aspx
Only Prognathogryllus sings.
Disclaimer: I do not pretend to have any expertise in Hawaiian species. Otte’s book is loaded with information, but too much information for me. There are so many species that I usually end up with sore eyes and a headache trying to figure out how iNaturalist submissions compare to the info offered in the book. ☹ It is rare that I manage to find characters that have a good match in the book. Usually, I think I have a good match, but when I check the other characters offered in the book for that species, it doesn’t match.
There are 38 species of Prognathogryllus, and their songs are quite similar. It seems the graphs in the book are taken in rather narrow ranges of temperature for each species, so I find making comparisons difficult. Getting accurate temperatures of the spot where the tree cricket was singing would be helpful in using the book to try to make an ID.
Below are some waveforms and spectrograms of Prognathogryllus recorded in Hawaii.
The chirp length above is about 0.7 seconds at 2.05 kHz.
The recording is here: Prognathogryllus elongatus from Kauai, Hawaii, United States on January 26, 2022 at 08:34 PM by James Bailey · iNaturalist
The chirp length below is about 0.62 and the frequency is 1.9 kHz.
Here is the recording: Prognathogryllus elongatus from Kauai, Hawaii, United States on January 25, 2022 at 11:44 PM by James Bailey · iNaturalist
The recording below has a chirp length of 0.22 seconds with a frequency of 3.45 kHz.
Here are some other interesting recordings. I believe the first one is three different individuals from the same species, but singing at different distances from the device. The second one looks like three different species because there are three different frequencies, but I can’t rule out that the species is able to change their frequency ?? It does not look like they are trying to synchronize their song – they have three different rates.
#1
Here is the recording: Prognathogryllus elongatus from Kauai, Hawaii, United States on January 26, 2022 at 08:34 PM by James Bailey · iNaturalist
#2
Here is the recording: Prognathogryllus elongatus from Kauai, Hawaii, United States on January 24, 2022 at 09:23 PM by James Bailey · iNaturalist
This is also a project for the future – try to plot all the recordings on iNaturalist of Prognathogryllus. Someday 😉
MAY 23 – Australian Oecanthus
There are three Oecanthus species in Australia, one is green, one is yellow and one pale brown. Ah…if only other countries had a different color for each of their species! That said, it can still sometimes be a challenge identifying tree crickets in photos, as lighting and surroundings can affect the color.
Oecanthus rufescens (Striped tree cricket) is BROWN: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128113
Oecanthus adyeri is GREEN:
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128071
Oecanthus angustus is YELLOW:
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128072
A great source of Australian tree crickets is a book by Dr. Daniel Otte and Dr. Richard Alexander – Otte, D. & R.D. Alexander. 1983. Monographs Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 22:376 Australian Crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) – Daniel Otte – Google Books NOTE: I have been told people have not been able to purchase it.
They undertook a massive field trip across Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TOgThiW-Eg
MAY 22 – Xabea
Australia and Asia
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128179
There are 14 species of Xabea. Here is the list shown on Orthoptera Species File (OSF) at the above link.
This is the map shown on OSF (Orthoptera Species File) at the above link.
Xabea species have a slender appearance with a long pronotum, and like Neoxabea, they lack the noticeable spines on the hind tibiae.
MAY 21 – Other Neoxabea
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128164
This list is from the link above:
This chart shows some of the outstanding characters for some species of Neoxabea.
There are nice sound recordings for this species of Neoxabea on OSF:
N. brevipes – http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128169
Unfortunately, there are no recordings for nine of the fourteen species of Neoxabea.
MAY 20 – Neoxabea meridionalis
Colombia, South America
This is a striking tree cricket due to the reddish limbs, head and pronotum. The wing veins have an unusual configuration compared to other Oecanthus species. Some photos posted on iNaturalist are immediately recognizable as N. meridionalis. All thus far have been posted from Colombia.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&taxon_id=633802
species Neoxabea meridionalis Bruner, 1916: Orthoptera Species File
MAY 19 – Neoxabea enodis
Ecuador, South America
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128170
https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/AE60p784.pdf
This species has a black pattern on the head, shown nicely in Dr. Walker’s paper above. I am surprised there are not more photos on iNaturalist, and disappointed since they would be one of the easier Neoxabeans to ID to species.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&taxon_id=633797
MAY 18 – Other South America Oecanthus
https://orthsoc.org/sina/s576lw67.pdf Includes a key
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/editTaxon/SearchForTaxon.aspx
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=97389&taxon_id=63036
MAY 17 – Oecanthus pictus
Brazil, South America
This species is highly variable in markings and coloring: PopImage (speciesfile.org)
This paper is loaded with microscopic photos: (PDF) A new species of tree crickets Oecanthus (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Oecanthinae) in tobacco plantation from Southern Brazil, with body color variation (researchgate.net)
Song: PlaySound (speciesfile.org)
species Oecanthus pictus Milach & Zefa, 2015: Orthoptera Species File
MAY 16 – Oecanthus pallidus
South America, Brazil
species Oecanthus pallidus Zefa, 2012: Orthoptera Species File
This all pale green species would be difficult for me to ID from photos, and probably in the field, as two other species, O. valensis and O. lineolatus, are also all pale green and occur in the same general area. You can find information on all three at the Orthoptera Species File: genus Oecanthus Serville, 1831: Orthoptera Species File
I am highlighting this species because Edison Zefa has published many papers on orthopterans, and several focused on tree crickets. Search Publications | ResearchGate
O. pallidus and O. lineolatus do have different sounds to their songs, but no song is posted for O. valensis.
PlaySound (speciesfile.org) O. pallidus
PlaySound (speciesfile.org) O. lineolatus
There are papers for these three species (can be accessed at ResearchGate) which give microscopic photos of internal genitalia as well as DNA results to show they are three separate species.
Calling song data of Oecanthus pallidus n. sp. | Download Table (researchgate.net)
It is possible there are photos on iNaturalist, but I have not ID’d any to species. What photos there may be of these three species mentioned above, are stuck in genus, Oecanthus.
MAY 15 – Oecanthus prolatus
Costa Rica, Panama
species Oecanthus prolatus Walker, 1967: Orthoptera Species File
Description: AE60p784.pdf (ufl.edu)
I’ve highlighted this species because it would seem to be one that should be easier to ID if encountered. Look at the remarkably long pronotum in the iNaturalist photo.
MAY 14 – Oecanthus jamaicensis
West Indies
species Oecanthus jamaicensis Walker, 1969: Orthoptera Species File
Print 98p0057z.tif (3 pages) (ufl.edu)
The above link leads you to the description paper which includes these drawings and info.
Here is its song: PlaySound (speciesfile.org) http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128091&SoundID=2740
It is interesting to examine the development of content in description papers. Back in the 1800’s, a simple paragraph or two was status quo for describing a new species. Here is the description for Oecanthus pini in 1893 (v.1-2 (1893-1894) – Journal of the New York Entomological Society – Biodiversity Heritage Library (biodiversitylibrary.org)):
Walker’s 1969 paper was three pages long, included drawings and cited other publications.
Papers in the 2020’s are now many pages long, include photographs with supplementary videos and recordings, graphs of song rates and frequencies, microscopic views of internal structures, and DNA results.
There are not yet any photos posted online, but it should be a fairly easy species to ID. The two black lines on the head are a standout feature.
MAY 13 – Oecanthus major – Great tree cricket
Mexico and SW US
great tree cricket (Oecanthus major) (orthsoc.org)
species Oecanthus major Walker, 1967: Orthoptera Species File
Species Oecanthus major – great tree cricket – BugGuide.Net
Great Tree Cricket (Oecanthus major) · iNaturalist
Trivia: I traveled to the site for the BugGuide sighting in 2019, with the couple who took the photo. It was extremely off the beaten path…and road repairs were needed along the way! Unfortunately, the plants where the photo had been taken were being protected by wasps. We were much too far from any medical assistance/equipment, so I had to try to scour the plants by eye from a 6 foot distance. I couldn’t do any sweeping, because that’s how I discovered the wasps!
The song of this species has yet to be recorded. A living male has not been encountered. The best way to know an encountered male O. major is: 1) analyze the song and find differences from O. californicus, and/or 2) find a male actively mating with a female with a strikingly long ovipositor in Mexico or the extreme SW US.
MAY 12 – Neoxabea formosa – Brownsville tree cricket
Mexico, ?US
species Neoxabea formosa (Walker, 1869): Orthoptera Species File
Trivia: This species is quite a confusing mystery. (It was described from Mexico as Oecanthus formosus. It is now named Neoxabea formosa.) There are surely collections around the world with specimens labeled as N. formosa which are probably N. mexicana. The species was described from the female…which look different than the male.
In my opinion, the important sentence in the description (below) is: Abdomen with two blackish stripes beneath.
I am comfortable saying that females of the following species do not have two blackish stripes beneath: N. bipunctata, N. mexicana, N. ottei, N. cerrojesusensis and a potential new species being described from Honduras. So in my opinion, a live N. formosa has yet to be found. The holotype was collected in the Veracruz area of Mexico, prior to 1870.
MAY 11 – Oecanthus comma
Mexico
species Oecanthus comma Walker, 1967: Orthoptera Species File
Trivia: This is a species that could potentially occur in the US.
Here is a drawing which includes the antennal markings for O. comma – a snapshot from Dr. Thomas J. Walker’s 1967 paper here: s576lw67.pdf (orthsoc.org)
Walker described it in 1967 and commented ‘Distinctive antennal markings separate this species from its closest relatives—the members of the rileyi complex. The name refers to the mark on the first antennal segment.’
I refer to many of the papers offered on the Singing Insects of North America (SINA) – truly on a weekly, if not daily, basis.
Note: I have had no direct encounters with live tree crickets of this and the remaining species covered this month. Hopefully the links and information shared here will be interesting and useful.
MAY 10 – Allard’s tree cricket – Oecanthus allardi
West Indies and Central America
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128125
pages (ufl.edu) – Description paper
Here is its song:
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128125&SoundID=2349
Trivia: I knew immediately that this tree cricket was something I hadn’t heard before when I walked past a landscaping hedge row at a resort on the Pacific in Nicaragua in 2010. I excused myself from my group, which was headed to the dining area for our evening meal, went back to my room and retrieved a drinking glass…the only thing available for holding a live tree cricket.
In 2011, in a location further east in Nicaragua, I encountered a group of chorusing O. allardi males. It was quite beautiful and mesmerizing.
This species was described from the West Indies, so Nicaragua is quite a distance away.
MAY 9 – Oecanthus leptogrammus – Thin-lined tree cricket
Mexico, Central America and South America
species Oecanthus leptogrammus Walker, 1962: Orthoptera Species File
Here is its song:
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1128131&SoundID=2347
Trivia: This species has not been documented in the US for over 100 years, yet they do occur in good numbers in Mexico and south. In 2009, Dr. Laurel B. Symes and I explored southern Texas – in particular Resaca de La Palma State Park, Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park and Falcon Lake State Park. Laurel was in grad school and I was hoping to find Neoxabea formosa and Oecanthus leptogrammus – two species that had not been found in the US since the early 1900’s. At the time of our mini expedition, neither species had recordings of the male’s song available online. In 2013, I managed to find one male at Cerro Jesus in northern Nicaragua, and recorded his song.
Here is the first recorded male, in a dark closet in a hotel in Managua!
Being a member of the niveus species group, his song resembles O. niveus and O. exclamationis.
As with other tree crickets, not only does the pulse rate of the song change with the temperature, so does frequency. All three of these videos, waveforms and spectrograms below are at a frequency of 2.3 kHz. People have told me they can tell the difference between the song of Davis’ and Narrow-winged…but since the frequency changes with temperature, unless a male of each species was side by side at the same temperature, I wouldn’t be able to hear one in a tree and immediately know which it was.
Oecanthus leptogrammus…81.2F 80pps 2.3kHz
Oecanthus niveus...75F 60pps 2.3kHz
Oecanthus exclamationis…71.6 F 55pps 2.3kHz
MAY 8 – Oecanthus symesi – Golden tree cricket
Nicaragua and Costa Rica
O. symesi – TREE CRICKETS (oecanthinae.com)
species Oecanthus symesi Collins & van den Berghe, 2014: Orthoptera Species File A pdf of the description paper can be downloaded at this link
Here is its song: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1217937&SoundID=2344
Trivia: Technically this tree cricket should have been named Oecanthus symesae – because it is named after Laurel B. Symes. Two previous papers I was involved with had the name end in ‘ I ‘ – because they were named after people – alexanderi and walkeri. I had no idea the rules were different for males and females. Unfortunately, my error was not detected during the review process ☹ Well, I guess it makes it stand out a bit more…like a coin with a minting error.
On a 2013 trip to Cerro Jesus in northern Nicaragua, this male was found in a ‘ red guava ‘ tree (might be a guayaba tree). Two females came to lights. The coloring of these tree crickets seems like a smart match for the colors on these trees. The male below was collected with a net that had several handle extensions totaling about 8 feet. The net was held by a 6 ft 2 in male standing in the bed of a truck. No males came to lights, so that sweep was really lucky and really important.
Of all the tree crickets I have personally encountered, these males have the smallest, narrowest wings. In this recording, I have my camera very close to the enclosure.
While in the room, it wasn’t easy to hear when he was singing – amidst the other species singing in the large area and with the cachophony of singers outside the screened windows – thousands of crickets, katydids, cicadas and frogs.
Since the song is not very loud, and it is easily drowned out by the other nighttime sounds, there has to be something that is making it easier for females to find singing males in the expansive canopy of large trees. This is where my lack of formal entomological education becomes evident. While I have read many scientific research papers, I generally am not able to fully understand all of the vocabulary. Perhaps there has been a paper studying this topic.
I wonder if it is a type of cookie-cutter hearing, meaning only a small section is missing. I myself ‘suffer‘ from this. Picture a clock with 1 kHz, 2 kHz, 3 kHz …. up to 12 kHz. I could hear Golden tree cricket at 2.3 kHz. If walking in Wisconsin on a day of about 74 F, I can hear a Four-spotted tree cricket at 4.0 kHz and a Say’s trig at 7 kHz. What I cannot hear is a Straight-lanced meadow katydid at 9 kHz. I remember my niece and her young daughters being puzzled at why I couldn’t hear the loudly singing insect in park, which was apparently within 2 feet of us in dense grass. I don’t remember how I managed to figure out the species, but later that summer I kept one indoors overnight, witnessed it moving its wings, but couldn’t hear it. I recorded it, and with much amplification of the volume, can barely hear it.
Yet…I can hear Black-legged meadow katydid 11 kHz and Sword-bearing conehead 12 kHz. So there is just a small section on that ‘clock’ that I cannot hear.
Perhaps this is how tree crickets are able to focus in on their own species – perhaps they can only hear certain frequencies, and everything else gets blocked out. I’ll check into this with some experts. If it turns out this is a known phenomenon, or disproven theory….I’ll update this section 😉
UPDATE: Dr. Mhatre did confirm:
Their ears respond only to a very small range of frequencies within the full spectrum, usually the same as their own males call.
In tree crickets, this small range shifts with temperature. Keeping up with the males changing call frequency.
MAY 7 – Oecanthus belti – Belt’s tree cricket
Nicaragua
O. belti – TREE CRICKETS (oecanthinae.com)
species Oecanthus belti Collins & van den Berghe, 2014: Orthoptera Species File A pdf of the description paper can be downloaded at this link
Here is its song: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1217936&SoundID=2343
Trivia: This is the only narrow-winged member of the varicornis species group. Dr. Walker agreed it should go there because of the distinctive red coloring on the head and base of the antennae with black running up the antennae. Unfortunately, I did not have a specimen to provide to TAMU for the massive DNR project. It would absolutely be interesting to see how it sits on a phylogeny tree.
MAY 6 – Oecanthus bakeri – Baker’s tree cricket
Nicaragua
species Oecanthus bakeri Collins & van den Berghe, 2014: Orthoptera Species File A pdf of the description paper can be downloaded at this link
Here is its song: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1217935&SoundID=2342
Trivia: This was a tricky species to name. I suspect this is what was once called Oecanthus marcosensis. It was described by Charles F. Baker in 1905 from San Marcos in Nicaragua, not far from the spot where these tree crickets were found in 2011. v.1 (1903-1907) – Invertebrata pacifica – Biodiversity Heritage Library (biodiversitylibrary.org)
Twenty-seven years later, in 1935, Morgan Hebard made this entry in Volume 58, Number 3 of the Transactions of the American Entomological Society:
In 1962, Dr. Thomas J. Walker made this entry in his varicornis group paper (s576lw62.pdf (orthsoc.org)):
Since these newly found tree crickets could not be accurately compared to the type specimen which was missing it’s head and thorax, it seemed best to give them a new name – after Dr. Charles Fuller Baker.
Tomorrow: Oecanthus belti – Belt’s tree cricket
MAY 5 – Neoxabea ottei – Otte’s tree cricket
Central America
N. ottei – TREE CRICKETS (oecanthinae.com)
species Neoxabea ottei Collins & van den Berghe, 2014: Orthoptera Species File A pdf of the description paper can be downloaded at this link
Here is its song: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1217934&SoundID=2346
This video shows the frantic and precarious mating routine for Neoxabean tree crickets.
Trivia: In 2010 I co-found the species which became Oecanthus alexanderi, named after Dr. Richard D. Alexander. Dr. Alexander undertook a long field study of singing insects in Mexico in the 1960’s – one of which was this species found at the southern border of Texas.
In 2012, I co-described another species found in the same park, the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Texas, and named it after Dr. Thomas J. Walker (Oecanthus walkeri). Dr. Walker created a graph of the Oecanthus recordings Dr. Alexander had made. It was he who recognized that O. alexanderi was a new species.
So, in 2014, having named species after Dr. Alexander and Dr. Walker, I had the opportunity to name a new species from Nicaragua after Dr. Daniel Otte. Dr. Otte has described many species of tree crickets.
I am hoping that another species will be described in 2024 – which will be named after Dr. Rob Toms. Dr. Toms did an extensive study of African tree crickets with Dr. Otte back in the 1980’s. We are just waiting to find a singing male to complete the paper.
MAY 4 – Neoxabea cerrojesusensis – Nicaragua tree cricket
Central America
N. cerrojesusensis – TREE CRICKETS (oecanthinae.com)
species Neoxabea cerrojesusensis Collins & van den Berghe, 2014: Orthoptera Species File A pdf of the description paper can be downloaded at this link
Here is its song: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1217933&SoundID=2345
Yet another opportunity to share this adorable video highlighting the warm-up stuttering of a Neoxabea…in this case, Neoxabea cerrojesusensis:
MAY 3 – Neoxabea mexicana – Mexican tree cricket
Mexico
Neoxabea mexicana – TREE CRICKETS (oecanthinae.com)
species Neoxabea mexicana Collins & Velazco-Macias, 2021: Orthoptera Species File
Here is its song: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1241779&SoundID=3231
All of the Neoxabea recordings I have made of males just starting to sing for the evening include these warm-up stutter sounds.
Trivia: Just like Otomi and Cri-Cri, this species was discovered by people taking photos in their yard in Mexico. Imagine how awesome to find a new species in your yard!
It would also be awesome to see Cerro de la Silla out your window…not sure how important it is in relation to having a colony of these smooth-legged tree crickets in an urban yard one-half a mile away. Observations · iNaturalist
It is, however, interesting that Otomi and Cri-Cri were also found on property near a mountain refuge in Querétaro- Parque Nacional El Cimatario: Observations · iNaturalist
The song of this Neoxabea sounds much different than that of the Neoxabea found in the eastern US. To my ears, Neoxabea bipunctata has a frantic and buzzy sound, while Neoxabea mexicana sounds like a melodious flute. Neoxabea mexicana from Bosques del Rey, Guadalupe, N.L., México on October 14, 2020 at 06:22 AM by Carlos G Velazco-Macias · iNaturalist
MAY 2 – Oecanthus rohiniae – Cri-Cri tree cricket
Mexico
Cri-cri – TREE CRICKETS (oecanthinae.com)
species Oecanthus rohiniae Collins & Coronado González, 2021: Orthoptera Species File
Here is its song: http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/PlaySound.aspx?TaxonNameID=1241351&SoundID=3235
Trivia: I was less excited about this submission to iNaturalist by Coronadogim, simply because I knew it would be more difficult to prove it was a distinctly different species than Oecanthus fultoni. Otomi tree cricket was easy because its chirps consisted of runs of pulses without groupings. Cri-Cri, however, had pulse groupings not much different from Snowy.
Although the rate seemed to match one of the entries on the chart created by Dr. Thomas J. Walker in the 1960’s, either he or Dr. Richard D. Alexander (who made the recordings) made a notation that it ‘might be a geographical variant of O. fultoni’.
Another note on the song – the paper includes graphs using math including linear regression and slopes that are beyond my capabilities to calculate. I learned the old school method, and continue to use that. The graph below used this old school method – counting the number of chirps in one minute. The old school method did result in rates around 220 chirps per minute.
One song character that stood out is that Cri-Cri has a good number of 2-2 chirps, while Snowy usually has a 2 pulse group only at the beginning of their chirps.
MAY 1 – Oecanthus mhatreae – Otomi tree cricket
Mexico
Oecanthus mhatreae – TREE CRICKETS (oecanthinae.com)
species Oecanthus mhatreae Collins & Coronado González, 2019: Orthoptera Species File
Here is its song: orthoptera.speciesfile.org/Common/Messages/2891.MP3
Trivia: I was quite excited when I listened to the recording added to the iNaturalist posting by Coronadogim in 2019: Otomi tree cricket from Corregidora, Qro., México on January 21, 2019 at 08:04 PM by Coronado Govaerts. Recording of sound at 17°C. · iNaturalist
I had and have been searching for signs of any chirping species in Mexico that might be reflected on this chart created by Thomas J. Walker from recordings made by Richard D. Alexander in the 1960’s. This is an updated version with changes in the Scientific Name column and the Note at the bottom.
These waveforms show the song of Otomi tree cricket. The final two waveforms compare Otomi (no pulse groupings) to Snowy (pulse groupings of 2-3 or 2-3-3).
Above is a single Otomi chirp, below is a single Snowy chirp.
This graph shows how the song rate of Otomi compares to Snowy, Riley’s, Alexander’s and O. allardi.
…and there are several more yet to be discovered.
