Tree crickets, also known as Oecanthus pellucens, are small yellowish-brown insects found worldwide, especially in central and western Asia, northern Africa, and Europe. They live in sunny meadows and grasslands with high vegetation. Males produce sound by rubbing their wings together at night to attract mates. Females lay eggs in plant stems which hatch into nymphs. Tree crickets are omnivorous but do not cause economic damage so no control methods are needed.

1. Syed Muhammad Ali Zahid
Department of Entomology
University College of Agriculture
University of Sargodha

2. Tree Crickets
Syed M. Ali Zahid
BAGF13-E270
Ent-607

3. Taxonomy
Technical name:
Oecanthus pellucens
Family:
Gryllidae
Order:
Orthoptera

4. Distribution
• They are distributed worldwide
• Most common in central and western Asia, northern Africa, southern
and central Europe.
• It occurs on vegetation, usually up to the height of 1 m where it walks
on stalks, leaves and flowers
• These are polyphagous in nature

5. Habitat
• Their typical habitat are sunny meadows with high vegetation
• Dry warm and nutrient-poor areas
• Such as grasslands, sand dunes and brownfield lands.

6. Identification
• They are yellowish brown or straw-colored
• Their body is very elongated and selender-
like
• Wings usually protrude out slightly above
the abdomen, but can be shorter or longer
• Females are short winged and the wings of
the males are larger than those of females

7. Conti….
• The antennae are longer than the body
• Black markings on the first two segments of
the antennae help in species identification for
most tree crickets
• Antennae are present in the grooves

8. Life cycle
• After mating, the female lays eggs in
plant stems.
• Till June, the nymphs live in the tissue
and leaves of the plant.
• A few days after the last molt the male
begins to sing.

10. Biology
• Length of adult male is up to 10–13 millimetres
• Female is slightly larger than the male, about 11–14 millimetres long
• They can be encountered from July through October.
• This cricket is mainly nocturnal

11. Conti….
• The ovipositor of the
female is long and
slightly curved.
• The females are
recognizable by the
club-shaped end of the
ovipositor

12. Stridulation
• The males rub their
wings together to
produce a subtle but
constant, fluctuating in
volume sound.
• They sing from about
five o'clock until three
o'clock in the morning.
Bastiaan et al., 1998

13. Damage & Control
• These crickets are omnivorous and usually feed on leaves or delicate
flower parts such as pollen and petals
• But also on animal foods such as aphids, spiders and insect larvae
• These insects don’t damage our field crops and don’t cause any
economic loss to humans
• That’s why, there is no need to control these crickets

14. Reference
• Bastiaan M. Drees & John A. Jackman (1998). ”Tree cricket”. A Field
Guide to Common Texas Insects. Lanham, MD: Gulf
Publishing.ISBN 0-87719-263-4.
• "Newsletter 32, Autumn 2015" (PDF). Grasshoppers and Related
Species Recording Scheme of Britain and Ireland. p. 8. Retrieved 3
November 2015.
• Distribution and Infiltration of the Tree Cricket Oecanthus pellucens
(Scopoli, 1763) to Unoriginal Conditions in Slovakia. Bull. Soc. Nat.
luxemb. 102 (2001). p. 103-108.