Gryllus Rubens
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''Gryllus rubens'', commonly known as the southeastern field cricket, is one of many cricket species known as a
field cricket Field cricket may refer to: * Insect species ** In the British Isles a "field cricket" is the insect species ''Gryllus campestris''; ** in North America it may refer to various species in the genus ''Gryllus''; ** elsewhere, the term may be used for ...
. It occurs throughout most of the
Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...
. Its northern range spans from southern
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
to the extreme southeastern corner of
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, with a southern range stretching from
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
to eastern
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
.


Description


Morphology

''Gryllus rubens'' has been found to be morphologically indistinguishable from '' G. texensis'', with which it shares its range. Compared to ''G. texensis'', female ''G. rubens'' are found to have longer ovipositors. It has been found that ''G. rubens'' has a
peripatric Peripatric speciation is a mode of speciation in which a new species is formed from an isolated peripheral population. Since peripatric speciation resembles allopatric speciation, in that populations are isolated and prevented from exchanging g ...
origin derived from one lineage of geographically subdivided ancestor of ''G. texensis''.


Wing morphology

Many studies on ''G. rubens'' revolve around their ability to exhibit wing polymorphism. Many of which are done in northern Florida where ''G. rubens'' occurs year-round. In the spring/summer seasons, ''G. rubens'' is often found to have long wings that reach the end of their abdomen. While in the autumn/winter seasons ''G. rubens'' tend to be short winged. These results showed that the environment plays big role in determining wing morph in ''G. rubens''. However, a later study identified that in female ''G. rubens'', genotype plays a bigger role in determining wing morph and in males the environment plays a bigger role in determining wing morph. Thus it was concluded that genes for wing morph is strongly influenced by the environment. A few years later, a study found that short winged female ''G. rubens'' oviposit earlier and with more eggs than their long winged counterparts. It is suggested that due to the longer wings, more nutrients are being allocated to maintain the wings. Which causes long wing morphs to have smaller ovaries and produce fewer eggs. Alternatively, short winged male ''G. rubens'' have not been found to reach sexual maturity earlier nor have a difference in reproductive output compared to long winged males.


Digestion

''Gryllus rubens'' have three major digestive enzymes: protease, amylase and lipase in their midgut and hindgut. Previously, it was believed that only midgut had the biggest contribution to breaking down food but it was discovered that the hindgut contributes just much enzymatic activity as the midgut to break down food to nutrients.


Courtship songs

One of the main difference between the cryptic sister species ''G. rubens'' and ''G. texensis''is the structure of their call courtship song. Specifically, ''G. rubens'' have more low-frequency ticks per phrase and more pulses per trill in their courtship songs. A study in 2006 investigated female ''G. rubens'' response to
conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organism ...
courtship songs from males dependent on season. The results showed that fewer females would approach the broadcaster during the autumn, and females would spend less time near the broadcasting male during the fall. Another study in 2011 investigated male ''G. rubens'' responses upon hearing another male make conspecific advertisement signals. It was found that younger ''G. rubens'' responded phono-tactically, while older crickets will respond acoustically. In simple terms, upon hearing the conspecific song, young crickets will move towards and approach the courtship song, possibly in attempts to steal wondering females; while older ''G. rubens'' will respond with a song of their own. ''G. rubens'' also has occurred alongside '' G. firmus'' in portions of its range and can be difficult to differentiate. They can be distinguished by their call song and
forewing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwi ...
color pattern. ''G. rubens'' has a slower call song than ''G. firmus''. Its forewings also have a pale lateral field with inconspicuous veins and crossveins. ''G. firmus'' has venation that is paler than the background of the lateral field.


Predators

The tachinid fly ''
Ormia ochracea ''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 lar ...
'' is a parasitoid of several crickets including ''G. rubens.'' This fly uses the courtship songs of ''G. rubens'' in order to locate potential hosts, as ''O. ochracea'' have been shown to be attracted to the songs of crickets. After locating the host cricket, ''O. ochracea'' females deposit larvae, which then quickly burrow into the host. The larvae develop within the host before emerging in about 7 days, killing the host.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5612417
rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...
Orthoptera of North America Insects of the United States Taxa named by Samuel Hubbard Scudder Insects described in 1902