Oecanthus fultoni

Males of Oecanthus fultoni

Oecanthus fultoni is a flower Grille (English " Tree Cricket" ) and thus belongs to the long horned crickets. It occurs almost throughout the USA and is called there due to their often bright coloration very "Snowy (literally translated as" Snow White " ) Tree Cricket". Since it can very reliably determine the air temperature by the Dolbearschen law from the pace of her singing, she is often referred to as thermometer Grille ( Cricket thermometer ). The species was isolated in 1962 from Oecanthus niveus. However, both species have among other features, a completely different song.

Features

The animals are 15-18 mm long. From another very similar species of the genus Oecanthus to O. fultoni can easily distinguish when viewed from the front of the base of the sensor. On the first antennal segment is a black, almost circular to oval spot (instead of an elongated spot or two spots). The second sensor element also supports a single oval-shaped black spot, which is greater than half the length of the segment. The males, as with many flowers grilling usual, against the females very broad elytra with a specially trained for the resonant amplification of song veining. Singing males can also be distinguished very well by their species-specific Lockgesangs, although the temperature dependence must be considered.

Distribution and habitat

The species is distributed almost throughout the U.S. (except Hawaii, Alaska, Florida, and Montana), in Mexico and southern Canada. The males sing to gestrüppartigem undergrowth along forest edges or within less dense forests. In cold periods, the animals found close to the ground on the trunks of small trees, presumably because it 's warmer there.

Trivia

The singing of these flowers Grille is so well known that it is mixed with many American films, in particular to suggest a quiet summer night in a rural area. The writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) described in The Old Manse singing this Grille as "audible stillness " ( audible silence) and wrote in The Canterbury Pilgrims ". If moonlight Could be heard, it would sound just like that " ( would moonlight audible, then it would be a sound just like this. ).