C.E.S. INSECT OF THE MONTH:
NOVEMBER
2009
Orocharis saltator
Uhler 1864.
Jumping Bush Cricket
This "bush cricket" may be moving north. In August Dave Marshall
and Kathy Hill noticed it singing in Willimantic, Storrs, and
Middletown, Connecticut. In 1969, Dr. Thomas J. Walker, of the
University of Florida, Gainesville, wrote a paper on the systematics
and acoustic behavior of the genus Orocharis
and included range maps
for the various species. At that time, Orocharis
saltator had only been collected as far north as
northern New Jersey, over a hundred miles southwest of the 2009 Storrs
record.
This species sings from shrubs or on trees at varying heights. Its song
is
distinctive, a bright trill lasting about 1/4 of a second, repeated
once every second or two (for crickets, these measurements depend
heavily on temperature). Dave and Kathy collected one (pictured)
from a tangle of shrubs and vines in Storrs, and kept it for about 2
weeks before releasing it back in its tree (it ate oatmeal and sung
happily in captivity after a few days of initial silence). As of
November 10th at least one could still be heard singing in Storrs and
Willimantic.
Like many birds, singing insects can be especially useful tools for
tracking shifts in faunal distributions, since their songs are loud and
(usually) species-specific.
For more information, including playable songs (and better pictures)
see the following page at Dr. Walker's excellent Singing Insects of
North America website:
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/buzz/686a.htm
The link below will download a PDF copy of Walker's 1969 paper on the
genus.
Walker 1969 PDF
Below is a photo of the male collected in Storrs.
Please send "Bug of the Month" ideas to Dave Marshall at pterophylla
[at] yahoo.com
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