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Sticker of Forbes' tree cricket
Bug card No. 1720 of 4,939

Forbes' tree cricket

Oecanthus forbesi
Eats: A bit of everythingGrasshoppers and cricketsGardens and meadows6 legs

Forbes' tree cricket is a slim, pale cricket that lives in plants in North America. It has a yellowish head and black marks at the base of its feelers. The male sings a song made of lots of quick little pulses.

Lives in
North America
Top speed
about 3 km/h (1.9 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting. Listen for its song on warm evenings.
What does it eat?
Like other tree crickets, it nibbles leaves and flowers and sometimes eats tiny insects.
For real!Photo of Forbes' tree cricket
Picture by peterwchen. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The male sings by rubbing his wings together.

2

The warmer it is, the faster he sings.

3

At about 15 degrees, his song has about 55 little pulses every second.

4

It looks almost exactly like another tree cricket. The only sure way to tell them apart is the speed of the male's song.

you asked

Most asked questions about Forbes' tree cricket

?How does Forbes' tree cricket sing?

The male rubs his wings together to make a song of quick pulses.

?Is Forbes' tree cricket dangerous?

No. It is a harmless little cricket.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Oecanthus forbesi
Group
Grasshoppers and crickets
Family
Oecanthidae
Classification
Insecta > Orthoptera > Oecanthidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Oecanthus forbesi (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by peterwchen. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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