20 s of calling song; male from Hancock Co., Miss.; 26.0°C. (WTL583-16)
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Sound spectrogram of 2 s of calling at 26.0°C (from WTL583-16). Dominant frequency 3.9 kHz.
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Song at 25°C:
A continuous trill at 65 p/s; carrier frequency 4.0 kHz.
Length 13–15 mm. Outside marks on first and second antennal segments as heavily pigmented as inside ones; outside mark on first segment never round; tibiae and apex of hind femur with conspicuous dark markings; width of inside dark mark on first antennal segment less than distance between inside and outside marks; no dusky areas on pronotum; fewer than 50 teeth in stridulatory file.
Similar species:
Four-spotted tree cricket—outside marks on first and second antennal segments usually less heavily pigmented than inside marks; outside mark on first segment often round; tibiae and apex of hind femur usually without conspicuous dark markings; more than 47 teeth in stridulatory file. Prairie tree cricket—black marks on second antennal segment confluent, contiguous, or separated by no more than one-third the width of the inside mark.
Habitat:
Fields, roadsides, early successional stages.
Season:
Two generations annually; with break between generations in early August. First adults in mid May in Gainesville, Florida, to mid June farther north. Adults occur into Nov. unless killed earlier by frost.
Remarks:
The five herb-inhabiting species of the Oecanthus nigricornis species group—the fast-calling, four-spotted, prairie, black-horned, and Forbes's—are the most commonly encountered and the most difficult to identify tree crickets.
