The Tachinidae are a large and variable family of true flies within the insect order Diptera, with more than 8,200 known species and many more to be discovered. Over 1,300 species have been described in North America alone. Insects in this family commonly are called tachinid flies or simply tachinids. As far as is known, they all are protelean parasitoids, or occasionally parasites, of arthropods, usually other insects. The family is known from many habitats in all zoogeographical regions and is especially diverse in South America.
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.
Sound localization is a listener's ability to identify the location or origin of a detected sound in direction and distance.
Dr. William H. "Bill" Cade is a biologist and a former president of the University of Lethbridge. He researches the role of acoustic signals in field cricket mating behaviour.
Ormia is a small genus of nocturnal flies in the family Tachinidae, that are parasitoids of crickets.
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
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.
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.
Senostoma is a genus of parasitoid tachinid flies in the family Tachinidae. Endemic to Australasia, the flies are medium-sized, bristly, and long-legged.
Ultrasound avoidance is an escape or avoidance reflex displayed by certain animal species that are preyed upon by echolocating predators. Ultrasound avoidance is known for several groups of insects that have independently evolved mechanisms for ultrasonic hearing. Insects have evolved a variety of ultrasound-sensitive ears based upon a vibrating tympanic membrane tuned to sense the bat's echolocating calls. The ultrasonic hearing is coupled to a motor response that causes evasion of the bat during flight.
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.
Marlene Zuk is an American evolutionary biologist and behavioral ecologist. She worked as professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) until she transferred to the University of Minnesota in 2012. Her studies involve sexual selection and parasites.
Stimulus filtering occurs when an animal's nervous system fails to respond to stimuli that would otherwise cause a reaction to occur. The nervous system has developed the capability to perceive and distinguish between minute differences in stimuli, which allows the animal to only react to significant impetus. This enables the animal to conserve energy as it is not responding to unimportant signals.
Anastrepha suspensa, known as the Caribbean fruit fly, the Greater Antillean fruit fly, guava fruit fly, or the Caribfly, is a species of tephritid fruit fly. As the names suggest, these flies feed on and develop in a variety of fruits, primarily in the Caribbean. They mainly infest mature to overripe fruits. While thought to have originated in Cuba, the Caribbean fruit fly can now also be found in Florida, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico.
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.
Gryllus integer, commonly known as the western trilling cricket, is one of many species of field cricket in the genus Gryllus. It is called the "triller" field cricket because its song is nearly continuous rather than broken into discrete chirps. G. integer can be found in parts of the Western United States, having been recorded from Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico.
Ormia depleta, sometimes called the Brazilian red-eyed fly, is a species of fly in the family Tachinidae. It is a parasitoid of mole crickets in the genus Scapteriscus. It is native to South America but has been imported into the United States and elsewhere as a biological pest control agent.
Sturmiopsis inferens is a species of fly in the family Tachinidae. It is native to Asia and is a parasitoid of various moth species whose larvae feed inside the stems of sugarcane, rice and other large grasses, including the Gurdaspur borer and the sugarcane shoot borer.
Liriomyza trifolii, known generally as the American serpentine leafminer or celery leafminer, is a species of leaf miner fly in the family Agromyzidae.
Exorista mella is a tachinid fly of the genus Ezorista within the family Tachinidae of the order Diptera. They are typically found in the United States and Canada. Within the U.S in the state of Arizona they have been found in both mountainous and agricultural regions. E. mella is a parasitoid fly, a polyphagous generalist which parasitizes a variety of hosts.
