- Tree cricket
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Tree cricket Snowy tree cricket,
Oecanthus fultoniScientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Orthoptera Family: Gryllidae Subfamily: Oecanthinae
Kirby, 1906Genus - Leptogryllus
- Neoxabia
- Oecanthus
- Paraphasius
- Prognathogryllus
- Thaumatogryllus
- Xabea
Tree crickets are insects of order Orthoptera. These crickets are in the subfamily Oecanthinae of the family Gryllidae.
They live in trees and shrubs, for which they are well camouflaged. Like other species of cricket they produce their calling song by rubbing the ridges of their wings together. The chirp (or trill) of a tree cricket is long and continuous and can sometimes be mistaken for the call of a cicada or certain species of frogs.
Tree crickets are omnivorous, and are known to feed on plant parts, other insects such as Sternorrhyncha, and even fungi.[1] Eggs are laid in the fall, in a series of small holes drilled into the bark. After remaining dormant for the winter, the eggs hatch in the spring and the young tree crickets begin feeding on aphids. They may go through as many as twelve molts before reaching maturity around mid summer.
Tree cricket is also known as poor man's thermometer. It is because if you count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 37 you get the temperature close to the Farhenheit temperature of outside.
References
- ^ Bastiaan M. Drees & John A. Jackman (1998). "Tree cricket". A Field Guide to Common Texas Insects. Lanham, MD: Gulf Publishing. ISBN 0-87719-263-4. http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg16.html. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
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