Friday, August 22, 2008

Black Horned Tree Cricket (Oecanthus nigricornis)

The first four photos were taken in the evening and the lighting was poor. It seemed like a good time to experiment with the camera's film speed and relative aperture settings. Considering my limited experience with photography to date, the results could have been worse ...

The ovipositor is clearly visible and identifies this cricket as a female.


The next two pictures were taken a few days later under better light. This is the male of the species. Note the lack of an ovipositor and the modified wings; a male cricket chirps or stridulates using its wings to attract a mate.


A female laying its eggs. There were three male crickets all competing for the attention of this sole female. When one male was approached by a second, the first would raise its wings at an angle from its body and trill softly at the second male. I haven't had any luck capturing images of this behaviour as yet ...