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The Tree Crickets

Found from woodlands to weedy fields, the tree crickets are elegant and beautful. Their long bodies and legs make them perhaps the best looking members of cricket group. Typical song is a long continuous trill that is only broken when the insect is disturbed. A few of the species have more patterned songs with predicable breaks in the train of trills. The tree crickets sing with their wings elevated straight up from their bodies. Many species find or chew a notch in a leaf to use as a singing perch. Identification of a number of these species is best done by looking at the basal segement of the antennae. The pattern of dark spots is diagnostic.