Teleogryllus oceanicus

Taxobox
name = "Teleogryllus oceanicus"


image_width =
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Orthoptera
subordo = Ensifera
superfamilia = Grylloidea
familia = Gryllidae
subfamilia = Gryllinae
genus = "Teleogryllus"
species = "T. oceanicus"
binomial = "Teleogryllus oceanicus "
binomial_authority = (Le Guillou, 1841)
synonyms = "Achaeta oceanica"
"Gryllus oceanicus"
"Gryllus innotabilis"

"Teleogryllus oceanicus" commonly known as the Australian, Pacific or oceanic field cricket is a cricket that occurs across the Oceania and in coastal Australia from Carnarvon in Western Australia and Rockhampton in north-east Queensland. [Otte, D. & Alexander, R.D. 1983. "The Australian Crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)". Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA] It may also be referred to as the black field cricket, a common name it shares with "Teleogryllus commodus".

The species was introduced to Hawaii in 1877, [Kevan, D.K.M. 1990. Introduced grasshoppers and crickets in Micronesia. "Bol. San. Veg." 20: 105–123.] where it is predated on by the parasitic fly "Ormia ochracea". Research has shown that the male cricket on Kauai underwent a mutation in 2003 that removed the file and scraper apparatus required for producing sound from the wing and rendered the males incapable of using song to attract female crickets. Within 20 generations 90% of the males on Kauai have "flatwings"; the mutation has reduced predation since the fly cannot locate the males. The males have also adapted their behaviour, exploiting males that can make sound to attract mates for them. [Zuk, M. et al. 2006. Silent night: adaptive disappearance of a sexual signal in a parasitized population of field crickets. "Biology Letters" DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0539]

References

External links

* [http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=9338 Cook Islands Biodiversity site] , images and sounds