A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger

Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident 

Last month I saw tiny grasshoppers that have grown quite larger. Now I am seeing tiny crickets. Will they also grow? 

No. These Red-headed Bush Crickets won’t get bigger than this one, about a half inch. The long, curved spine that extends from her abdomen is an ovipositor. She will lay eggs below the soil for protection and temperature control. She and her friends will spend their lives hopping among trees and bushes, while most crickets scuttle along the ground. Their bright coloring also separates them from others of their family, who tend to one color, usually an earth tone that serves as camouflage. The black and red combination is found in many poisonous insects, so this combination is a kind of protection, even though they lack the toxic chemicals. 

The long, black spoon-like protuberances are palps that, like their antennae, keep moving as they explore ahead. Only the males sing, by scraping their legs together. Sometimes males will wrap themselves around a leaf to amplify their song.

These crickets, sometimes called Handsome Trigs, are found everywhere in eastern North America and are usually nocturnal. They join in the forest’s evening symphony this time of year. Their Latin name translates into “beautiful leaf feeler.” 

Crickets and grasshoppers are part of the same order and are often confused with one another. Grasshoppers chirp by rubbing their legs against their wings. Crickets rub wings together. Grasshoppers grow to be as long as four inches, much larger than crickets. Grasshoppers can fly and jump. Crickets only jump. Grasshoppers are herbivores. Crickets are scavenging omnivores, eating small insects and larvae as well as your garden. Grasshoppers are diurnal, which is why I see them from the time they are babies to adulthood, while spotting a cricket like this is rare, though there are several around our deck now. 

I found these differences instructive, as previously I would have known only that crickets give advice to marionettes, sing wistful songs and wear top hats, while grasshoppers waste their autumn singing while the industrious ant works his abdomen off.