Gryllus firmus

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Gryllus firmus
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Family: Gryllidae
Genus: Gryllus
Species:
G. firmus
Binomial name
Gryllus firmus
Scudder, 1902 [1]

Gryllus firmus, commonly known as the sand field cricket, is a species of cricket in the subfamily Gryllinae. It is found in the southeastern United States.

Contents

Description

Gryllus firmus is very similar in appearance to other crickets found in the southeastern United States, the southeastern field cricket (Gryllus rubens) and the Texas field cricket (Gryllus texensis). It has a black head and prothorax, and a brown abdomen. It can be distinguished from these two species by the coloration and venation of the forewing, but more particularly, by its call. Males of this species chirp while males of the other two species trill. [2]

Distribution and habitat

Gryllus firmus occurs in the coastal plain of the southeastern United States. Its range extends from Connecticut and New Hampshire to Florida and Texas. The long winged morph is migratory. [3] It is replaced to the north and west of its range by the fall field cricket (Gryllus pennsylvanicus), and the two species hybridise to a limited extent where their ranges overlap. Its typical habitat is grassland, pasture, roadside verges and lawns on light, free-draining sandy soils. [2]

Biology

Gryllus firmus exhibits wing polymorphism; some individuals have fully functional, long hind wings and others have short wings and cannot fly. Females of the latter morph have smaller flight muscles, greater ovarian development and produce more eggs, so the polymorphism adapts the cricket for either dispersal or reproduction. In some long-winged individuals, the flight muscles deteriorate during adulthood and the insect's reproductive capabilities improve. [4]

G. firmus is unusual among field crickets in laying a mixture of two types of egg. [5] Some eggs develop immediately and take two to four weeks to hatch, while others have a diapause, with delayed hatching taking place after from five to twenty-eight weeks. Individual females lay both egg types, with the proportion of the quick-developing types varying from 50% to 95%. Researchers hypothesize that this reproductive strategy is particularly appropriate for G. firmus because of the variability in the temperature and the soil moisture content in the sandy, fast-drying soils in which it lives. Unpredictable droughts are less likely to cause population collapses when the risk is spread in this way. [5]

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Gryllinae Subfamily of crickets

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<i>Ormia ochracea</i> Species of fly

Ormia ochracea is a small yellow nocturnal fly in the family Tachinidae. It is notable for its parasitism of crickets and its exceptionally acute directional hearing. The female is attracted to the song of the male cricket and deposits larvae on or around him, as was discovered in 1975 by the zoologist William H. Cade.

<i>Gryllus campestris</i> European species of insect

Gryllus campestris, the European field cricket or simply the field cricket in the British Isles, is the type species of crickets in its genus and tribe Gryllini. These flightless dark colored insects are comparatively large; the males range from 19 to 23 mm and the females from 17 to 22 mm.

<i>Gryllus bimaculatus</i> Species of cricket

Gryllus bimaculatus is a species of cricket in the subfamily Gryllinae. Most commonly known as the two-spotted cricket, it has also been called the "African" or "Mediterranean field cricket", although its recorded distribution also includes much of Asia, including Korea, China and Indochina through to Borneo. It can be discriminated from other Gryllus species by the two dot-like marks on the base of its wings.

<i>Gryllus pennsylvanicus</i> Species of cricket

Gryllus pennsylvanicus is known as the fall field cricket. G. pennsylvanicus is common in southern Ontario, is widespread across much of North America and can be found even into parts of northern Mexico. It tends to be absent in most of the southwestern United States including southern California. Within its geographic range this field cricket will burrow into soil in fields and forest edges. Individuals inhabit grassy disturbed areas and are often found around areas of human habitation.

Gryllus veletis, commonly known as the spring field cricket, is abundant throughout eastern North America. G. veletis is a solitary, aggressive, omnivorous, burrow-inhabiting species of cricket. This species is commonly confused with Gryllus pennsylvanicus, as they inhabit the same geographical area. However, the two species are easily distinguished through examination of life history, ovipositor and behavioural differences. Predators of G. veletis, and most field crickets, include American toads, wild turkeys, red-tailed hawks, wolf spiders and red-backed salamanders.

Cricket (insect) Small insects of the family Gryllidae

Crickets are Orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms, "crickets" were placed at the family level, but contemporary authorities including Otte now place them in the superfamily Grylloidea. The word has been used in combination to describe long-recognised unrelated taxa in the suborder Ensifera, such as king crickets and mole crickets.

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<i>Gryllus rubens</i> Species of cricket

Gryllus rubens, commonly known as the southeastern field cricket, is one of many cricket species known as a field cricket. It occurs throughout most of the Southeastern United States. Its northern range spans from southern Delaware to the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas, with a southern range stretching from Florida to eastern Texas.

<i>Patanga succincta</i> Species of locust

Patanga succincta, the Bombay locust, is a species of locust found in India and southeast Asia. It is usually a solitary insect, and it is only in India that it has exhibited swarming behaviour. The last plague of this locust was in that country between 1901 and 1908 and there have not been any swarms since 1927. It is thought that the behaviour of the insects has altered because of changing practices in agricultural land use.

<i>Gryllus assimilis</i> Species of cricket

Gryllus assimilis, commonly known as the Jamaican field cricket and sometimes referred to as the silent cricket among other names, is one of many cricket species known as a field cricket. Its natural habitats are the West Indies and parts of the southern United States, Mexico, and South America, though as a result of widespread breeding programs to supply feeder insects to the pet industry since 2010, it has become available commercially throughout North America and Europe.

<i>Macrotera portalis</i> Species of bee

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<i>Allonemobius fasciatus</i> Species of cricket

Allonemobius fasciatus, commonly known as the striped ground cricket, is an omnivorous species of cricket that belongs to the subfamily Nemobiinae. A. fasciatus is studied in depth in evolutionary biology because of the species ability to hybridize with another Allonemobius species, A. socius.

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References

  1. "Gryllus firmus - Scudder, 1902". Orthoptera Species File. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  2. 1 2 Walker, Thomas J. (2014-05-01). "Sand field cricket". Featured Creatures. University of Florida. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  3. Bioscience. The Evolution and Genetics of Migration in Insects
  4. Devillers, James (2013). Juvenile Hormones and Juvenoids: Modeling Biological Effects and Environmental Fate. CRC Press. p. 39. ISBN   978-1-4665-1322-8.
  5. 1 2 Walker, Thomas J. (1980). "Mixed Oviposition in Individual Females of Gryllus firmus: Graded Proportions of Fast-Developing and Diapause Eggs". Oecologia. 47 (3): 291–298. doi:10.1007/bf00398519. JSTOR   4216244. PMID   28309077.