Gryllus integer

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Gryllus integer
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Family: Gryllidae
Subfamily: Gryllinae
Tribe: Gryllini
Genus: Gryllus
Species:
G. integer
Binomial name
Gryllus integer
Scudder, 1902

Gryllus integer, commonly known as the western trilling cricket, is one of many species of field cricket (subfamily Gryllinae) in the genus Gryllus . It is called the "triller" field cricket because its song is nearly continuous rather than broken into discrete chirps. [1] G. integer can be found in parts of the Western United States, having been recorded from Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico. [2]

Contents

Morphology

Gryllus integer can be medium to large in size, ranging from 17.1- 24.0 mm, it is macropterous(large-winged), its head and pronotum are jet black and tegmina is light brown. [3]

Habitat

Typical of many field crickets, G. integer can be found living in cracks or burrows in the ground in disturbed areas such as roads or by buildings, and around human habitation. [3]

Song production

Gryllus integer has a unique song known as a rapid thrill., [3] which is produced by tegminal (forewing) stridulation. [2] [4] These displaying male crickets prefer to call from warmer sites and it has been found that their micro-habitat choice based on temperature can influence their mating calls. [5] Male song varies in duration of uninterrupted trilling. Males use this call to attract sexually receptive females who tend to preferentially move toward males with longer calling bouts (periods of calling that contain no pause greater than 0.10 s in real time), although female mate preference can vary. [6] These males tend to fight intensely and stridulate their wings more when trying to acquire females. Sexually mature males tend to be more aggressive and heavier than lighter males which have not yet produced a spermatophore. [7] The calling song of G. integer attracts females and results in spacing between mates, but it also attracts the parasitoid female fly Ormia ochracea. This parasitoid fly lays its larvae on the surface of the cricket and burrows into its body. [8]

Variation

Male G. integer from Davis, California, do not trill but rather produce fast trains of chirps containing 2 or 3 syllables per chirp with a pause between chirps approximately 30ms long, but most commonly with 3. Females tend to respond more to 2 syllables then 3. Arizona populations of G.integer call exclusively with 2 syllables per chirp. Californian G. integer are relatively intolerant of increased syllable numbers. Californian G. integer prefer particular chirp pauses (24-36 ms) but accepted somewhat longer ones (up to 70 ms). [9]

Sperm competition

Sperm competition is the competition that occurs when females store sperm, of varying males, in their spermatheca and use this sperm to fertilize their eggs. This type of competition is prevalent when females mate more than once in which they store sperm in a viable condition and have sperm from previous matings present when they re-mate [10] Field crickets (Gryllidae) show all of the prerequisites for sperm competition. Females mate repeatedly with different males, store the sperm in a spermatheca and sperm from previous matings is viable in the spermatheca when females re-mate. [11] Males guard females after mating which also suggests sperm competition. [12]

Predators

This species of cricket is popular for use as a food source for insectivorous animals like spiders, reptiles, rodents, bats and birds. [9] In addition, the tachinid fly Ormia ochracea is known to parasitize G. integer. [13] O. ochracea uses the mating call of G. integer to locate the host, then the female fly deposits larvae on the host. [14] Exoristoides johnsoni is also a parasitoid of G. integer. [15]

Anti-predator response

In order to evade predators, adult G. integer engage in a behavior known as "freezing." This anti-predator behavior appears to have a genetic and/or maternal effect [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mole cricket</span> Members of the insect family Gryllotalpidae

Mole crickets are members of the insect family Gryllotalpidae, in the order Orthoptera. Mole crickets are cylindrical-bodied, fossorial insects about 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) long as adults, with small eyes and shovel-like fore limbs highly developed for burrowing. They are present in many parts of the world and where they have arrived in new regions, may become agricultural pests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gryllinae</span> Subfamily of crickets

Gryllinae, or field crickets, are a subfamily of insects in the order Orthoptera and the family Gryllidae.

William Henry Cade is an American-Canadian biologist who served as the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Lethbridge from 2000 to 2010. His research articles deal mainly with entomology, particularly with field crickets.

<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 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 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>Teleogryllus oceanicus</i> Species of cricket

Teleogryllus oceanicus, commonly known as the Australian, Pacific or oceanic field cricket, is a cricket found across Oceania and in coastal Australia from Carnarvon in Western Australia and Rockhampton in north-east Queensland

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tree cricket</span> Subfamily of crickets

Tree crickets are insects of the order Orthoptera. These crickets are in the subfamily Oecanthinae of the family Gryllidae.

Gryllotalpa major,also known as the prairie mole cricket, is endemic to the United States and is the largest cricket in North America. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland and it belongs to the family Gryllotalpidae. It is threatened by habitat loss, and is currently only found in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas. Males of this species produce sounds by rubbing their fore wings together. They sing from special burrows they construct in the prairie soil to attract females for mating, and they can be heard at distances up to 400 m from the burrow. Males aggregate their acoustic burrows in a lek arena and are very sensitive to vibrations carried through the ground. Males communicate with neighboring males through vibrational signals, and the songs they project to flying females are harmonic chirps, rather than the trills produced by most mole crickets.

<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.

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

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 include American toads, wild turkeys, red-tailed hawks, wolf spiders and red-backed salamanders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cricket (insect)</span> 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 more distantly related taxa in the suborder Ensifera, such as king crickets and mole crickets.

<i>Gryllus</i> Genus of crickets

Gryllus is a genus of field cricket. Members of the genus are typically 15–31 mm long and darkly coloured. The type species is Gryllus campestris L.: the European field cricket.

Platygryllus is a genus of crickets in the subfamily Gryllinae. Records of species distribution include Africa, southern Europe and in Asia: India, Java and the Philippines.

<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>Gryllus bryanti</i> Species of cricket

Gryllus bryanti is a species of cricket in the subfamily Gryllinae. G. bryanti lives on islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Eleuthera Island and Andros Island in the Bahamas.

An illegitimate receiver is an organism that intercepts another organism's signal, despite not being the signaler's intended target. In animal communication, a signal is any transfer of information from one organism to another, including visual, olfactory, and auditory signals. If the illegitimate receiver's interception of the signal is a means of finding prey, the interception is typically a fitness detriment to either the signaler or the organism meant to legitimately receive the signal, but it is a fitness advantage to the illegitimate receiver because it provides energy in the form of food. Illegitimate receivers can have important effects on the evolution of communication behaviors.

<i>Gryllus assimilis</i> Species of cricket native to the Western Hemisphere

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.

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.

<i>Phyllopalpus pulchellus</i> Species of cricket

Phyllopalpus pulchellus, known generally as the red headed bush cricket,handsome trig or handsome bush cricket, is a species of winged bush cricket in the family Gryllidae. It is found in Eastern United States.

<i>Acanthogryllus fortipes</i> Southern African cricket species

Acanthogryllus fortipes, or the brown cricket, is a species of cricket from southern Africa. It is mostly dark brown in colour and has a large head. It is a common species in short grass, including artificial habitats such as lawns and fields.

References

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  2. 1 2 Hedrick, A. 1986. Female preferences for male calling bout duration in a field cricket. Behav Ecol Sociobiol, 19, 73-77.
  3. 1 2 3 Weissman, D. 1980. Field crickets (Gryllus and Acheta) of California and Baja California, Mexico (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Gryllinae). American Entomological Society, 106, 327-356.
  4. Loher, W. and Dambach, M. 1989. Reproductive behavior. In Cricket Behavior and Neurobiology (ed. Huber, F., Moore, T. E., and Loher, W.), pp. 43-82. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press., ISBN   0-8014-2272-8
  5. Hedrick, A. V., Perez, P., & Lichti, N. 2002. Temperature preferences of male field crickets (Gryllus integer) alter their mating calls. J Comp Physiol A, 188, 799-805.
  6. Hedrick, A., & Weber, T. 1998. Variance in female responses to the fine structure of male song in the field cricket, Gryllus integer. Behav Ecol, 9, 582-591.
  7. Dixon, K., & Cade, W. 1986. Some factors influencing male- male aggression in the field cricket Gryllus integer (time of day, age, weight and sexual maturity). Anim. Behav, 34, 340-346
  8. Cade, W. H. 1975. Acoustically orienting parasitoids: fly phonotaxis to cricket song. Science, 190, 1312-1313
  9. 1 2 3 Hedrick, A. 2013. Family effects on anti-predator behavior in the field cricket, Gryllus integer. J. Insect Behav, 26, 832-836
  10. Parker, G. A.1970. Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in the insects. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc, 45, 525-567
  11. Evans, A. R.1983. A study of the behavior of the Australian field cricket, Teleo-gryllus commodus (Walker) (Orthoptera:Gryllidae) in the field and in habitat stimulations. Z Tierpsychol, 62, 269-290
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  13. Lehmann, Gerlind U.C. (January 2003). "Review of Biogeography, Host Range and Evolution of Acoustic Hunting in Ormiini (Insecta, Diptera, Tachinidae), Parasitoids of Night-calling Bushcrickets and Crickets (Insecta, Orthoptera, Ensifera)". Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology. 242 (2): 107–120. doi:10.1078/0044-5231-00091. ISSN   0044-5231. S2CID   85839051.
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  15. O'Hara, James E.; Gray, David A. (2004). "Two New Orthopteran Hosts Of North American Polideini (Diptera : Tachinidae)". Entomological News.