100 More species #65: Handsome trig

Handsome trig Phyllopalpus pulchellus

I was torn between the two most-used common names for this animal. The other name "red-headed bush cricket" is an accurate description. But "handsome trig" is hard to beat, and it sounds a bit like an epithet for a prep school boy. The scientific name means "pretty plant-feeler," which is close to the common name I chose. "Trig" is a shortened form of a genus name of a related species in the same subfamily Trigonidiinae (the subfamily is named for the related species). The "leaf-feeler" bit has to do with those crazy black mouthparts--appendages called palps, which it uses to taste the world directly in front of its head. It also constantly waggles its antennae around, building some kind of chemical map of its surroundings with these pairs of sense organs.

This insect sings by stridulating its wings, , the right one of which is black while the other is transparent with a smoky black margin. This must be an adaptation which affects the production of the sound in some way. The singing males have been observed to choose a stage (a perch within a shrub usually) framed by a pair of leaves, which helps to amplify the song.

I had never seen one of these before, but I recognized it from Songs of Insects, which I consulted heavily when researching my podcast episode about crickets and katydids. That book, as well as the online bugguide.net, place this insect in a range that does not include New England. I would be interested to learn if the trig's range is expanding, or if this is an aberrant stray occurrence.



Learn 20 common insect songs!

3:00 snapshot #1095

Alexis puts a coat of high temp water resist paint on our fire holding thingies.