Cuban Ground Cricket (Neonemobius cubensis)
Song of a Cuban Ground Cricket (scroll down for explanation and additional recordings!).
This tiny ground cricket is becoming more numerous within its range. It also appears to be expanding its range to the north and west. They are found in grassy areas like parks, lawns, trail-sides, and fields. They are perhaps more numerous in damp areas. They are very difficult to see during the day as they stay well hidden within the grass and leaf litter. At night, they can be found wandering around on the top of low-lying vegetation, gravel areas, and pavement next to appropriate habitat.
Cuban Ground Crickets range over most of the southern United States from northern New Jersey, south along the piedmont and west through North Carolina to eastern Nebraska then south through Florida. There are extensive reports of this species in Ohio as noted with the range addition there. Astute cricket enthusiasts should be listening for and recording suspected N. cubensis in locations outside of the ranges indicated in the accompanying map.
Song: A variably long, high-pitched trill that starts out softly and quickly becomes louder. Each song can last from 5 to well over 30 seconds. Within the trill, chirps are given at roughly 42 pulses per second at a frequency of 7kHz. Cuban Ground Crickets can be heard both day and night.
Other Sound Examples:
The recording at the top of this page is a male, recorded in the field, at 31°C.
Below is a recording of a male Cuban Ground Cricket in the studio at 22°C.September 28, 2014. Washington Co., MD. ©Wil Hershberger
Cuban Ground Cricket
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Spring and Fall Field Cricket
Southern Wood Cricket
Southeastern Field Cricket
Eastern Striped Cricket
Japanese Burrowing Cricket
Ground Crickets (Nemobiinae):
Allard’s Ground Cricket
Carolina Ground Cricket
Confused Ground Cricket
Striped Ground Cricket
Southern Ground Cricket
Sphagnum Ground Cricket
Variegated Ground Cricket
Spotted Ground Cricket
Tinkling Ground Cricket
Cuban Ground Cricket
Tree Crickets (Oecanthinae):
Black-horned Tree Cricket
Forbes’s Tree Cricket
Broad-winged Tree Cricket
Davis’s Tree Cricket
Fast-calling Tree Cricket
Four-spotted Tree Cricket
Narrow-winged Tree Cricket
Pine Tree Cricket
Snowy Tree Cricket
Two-spotted Tree Cricket
Trigs and Bush Crickets (Eneopterinae & Trigonidiinae):
Jumping Bush Cricket
Columbian Trig
Handsome Trig
Say’s Trig
Thomas’s Trig
Slow-tinkling Trig
Mole Crickets (Gryllotalpidae):
Northern Mole Cricket
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FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Saltmarsh Meadow Katydid
Short-winged Meadow Katydid
Slender Meadow Katydid
Woodland Meadow Katydid
Black-sided Meadow Katydid
Long-tailed Meadow Katydid
Straight-lanced Meadow Katydid
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Dusky-faced Meadow Katydid
Stripe-faced Meadow Katydid
Nimble Meadow Katydid
Black-legged Meadow Katydid
Common Meadow Katydid
Gladiator Meadow Katydid
Handsome Meadow Katydid
Lesser Pine Meadow Katydid
Long-spurred Meadow Katydid
Red-headed Meadow Katydid
Coneheads (Copiphorinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Round-tipped Conehead
Nebraska Conehead
Robust Conehead
Slightly Musical Conehead
Sword-bearing Conehead
False Robust Conehead
Marsh Conehead
Black-nosed Conehead
True Katydids (Pseudophyllinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Common True Katydid
False Katydids (Phaneropterinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Clicker Round-winged Katydid
Common Virtuoso Katydid
Rattler Round-winged Katydid
Oblong-winged Katydid
Great Angle-wing
Lesser Angle-wing
Broad-winged Bush Katydid
Curved-tailed Bush Katydid
Fork-tailed Bush Katydid
Northern Bush Katydid
Texas Bush Katydid
Treetop Bush Katydid
Modest Katydid
Shield-backed Katydids (Tettigoniinae):
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
American Shieldback
Least Shieldback
Protean Shieldback
Robust Shieldback
Roesel’s Katydid
Band-winged Grasshoppers (Oedipodinae):
Boll’s & Carolina Grasshoppers
Marsh Meadow Grasshopper