PURPOSE. This project is part of an ongoing, comprehensive survey of species diversity in Ohio for the order Orthoptera, specifically crickets, grasshoppers and katydids, represented by the insect families Acrididae, Gryllidae, Gryllotalpidae, Tetrigidae, Tettigoniidae, and Tridactylidae. Image and song observations are both welcome. Our posted observations and discussions will also be valuable and fun as a point of interaction among orthopterists--those of us (amateur naturalists or professional biologists) who enjoy studying and observing these fascinating critters!

For observations to be useful, it is critical that the county and the nearest town or geographic locality be mentioned, as well as the date of observation or recording. For those with access to collecting equipment, Orthoptera species should be vouchered and submitted to The Ohio State University Museum of Entomology (or another major Ohio museum). When you submit your observation, also please request that the observation be noted with the "Orthoptera of North America" project.

BACKGROUND. While my main specialty is violets as a plant systematist, I began my secondary entomological interests with Orthoptera during my employment with the Michigan Heritage Program and later with The Nature Conservancy's chapter in Michigan, where I initiated surveys of insect groups in high-priority natural communities. Returning to graduate school, although my research project was the taxonomy of a violet group, my research assistantship with Roger Bland was in Orthoptera, and we worked together on documenting the orthopteran diversity of Michigan, eventually resulting in Bland's manual of Michigan Orthoptera. I have conducted local and regional surveys of Orthoptera in Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin, and have been focusing recently on surveys at the Edge of Appalachia Preserve system and the Oak Openings region in Ohio. I have developed a complete checklist of Ohio Orthoptera with species confirmed by specimens or accepted published literature, as well as a number of species documented in nearby areas of other states and likely to be found one day in our state. I also have produced draft keys to all species in the state based on my checklist. less ↑