''Oecanthus forbesi'', the Forbes' tree cricket, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

tree cricket In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only plan ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Gryllidae The family Gryllidae contains the subfamilies and genera which entomologists now term true crickets. Having long, whip-like antennae, they belong to the Orthopteran suborder Ensifera, which has been greatly reduced in the last 100 years (''e.g ...

. It is found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Description

This species has a yellowish head with black markings on the first two antennal segments. ''O. forbesi'' is very similar to '' O. nigricornis''. The two species can be reliably separated only by the pulses per second (p/sec) of the male's song. The male sings by

stridulation Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fish, snakes and spiders. The mech ...

, and the p/sec increases with temperature. The song of the male below was measured at 55-56 p/sec in temperature of about 15 degrees Celsius (°C). Oecanthus forbesi-male stridulating.jpg, Photo of male stridulating Male Forbes Tree Cricket-stridulating.webm, Video of male stridulating Oecanthus forbesi-male stridulating.png, Sonograph of male stridulating

References

forbesi {{gryllidae-stub