Gray Ground Cricket
Allonemobius griseus
Identification 2
A northerly species that may occur in east or northeast Iowa. Often looks like it has been dusted with gray powder. If it's grayish, then it is supposed to be this species, but to date I have found this character to not be as useful as might be hoped. Some individuals are not particularly gray. And A. maculatus can have some gray color. Most similar to A. fasciatus, but the ovipositor is much longer than the hind femur, whereas in A. fasciatus the ovipositor is similar in length or slightly longer than the hind femur. Usually has light-colored dorsolateral margins on the wings, which appears to be unique among Allonemobius (but appears to occur with Eunemobius, at least). Ovipositor is slightly pointed downward at the tip. Song recordings can be very helpful for ID.
Resources 2
SINA: https://sina.orthsoc.org/523a.htm
The Insects and Arachnids of Canada, Part 14: https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/aac-aafc/agrhist/A42-42-1985-14-eng.pdf
Orthoptera of Michigan: https://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/Ag.%20Ext.%202007-Chelsie/PDF/e2815.pdf
Blatchley, W. S. 1920. Orthoptera of northeastern America: with especial reference to the faunas of Indiana and Florida. Nature Publishing Company.
Occurrence 2
SINA range map overlaps a significant portion of eastern Iowa, but has not been documented in Iowa.
Habitat 2
Sandy places with limited vegetation, such as sand barrens or sandy river deposits. The light gray color helps camouflage them in these habitats.
Sources and Credits
- (c) James Miskelly, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by James Miskelly
- (c) Tyler Grant, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
