Handsome Trig (Phyllopalpus pulchellus)
Song of a Handsome Trig (scroll down for explanation and additional recordings!).
The Handsome Trig is certainly striking, with a black body, red head and thorax, and cream-colored legs with small patches of pure white accenting the bottom edge of the thorax and the legs. The Latin name for this species means “beautiful leaf-feeler.” A more appropriate name could not be found. The mouth parts, or palps, are in constant motion — the trigs use them to “taste” their environment. Their antennae are also in perpetual motion, and the effect of the palps and the antennae whipping around is mesmerizing. Found in brushy hedgerows, especially thickets of Japanese honeysuckle.
Song: A rattling broken trill, pitched at about 7 kHz. Extremely loud for such a tiny insect. A male often sings from a perch where two leaves are very close together, making a chamber for his concert, which acts like a small megaphone to project the sound away from a bush or tree. The male holds his wings nearly straight up as he sings. His left wing is clear in the center. In prime habitats where there are large numbers, the chorus of trigs can be overwhelming.
Sonogram of a Handsome Trig. © Wil Hershberger.
To learn more about Trigs, click here.
Handsome Trig
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Spring and Fall Field Cricket
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Ground Crickets (Nemobiinae):
Allard’s Ground Cricket
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Confused Ground Cricket
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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
Agile Meadow Katydid
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