I like these little crickets, and only recently learned about their huge eggs. Lots of them in Asia, including a number of arboreals, e.g., M. polyrhachi. And there is a fifth one in NA — I need to track down its current name, but W. M. Wheeler called it M. flavocinctus, noting that it lives with Paratrechina longicornis. I saw it once in Florida when a colony of these got flooded out of a sidewalk crack by lawn sprinklers. It is nearly black with a light pronotal band, like somefirst instar Gryllus. Quite spiffy!
I’m still getting used to the name ending in -us, after decades of being published as “Myrmecophila”.
Just for short: You’ve got the most beautiful site, and I am thankful every day for having found it.
Now, I thought it might be one of those crickets and haven’t got nearer to pinpointing it yet, but my best guess at the moment would be Myrmecophilus acervorum, a European cricket called “Ameisengrille” (Antcricket) in German. My guess bases mainly on the fact, that they lay eggs singularly and then only one in 24 hours – sounds to me like a hint…
The other hint might be that they reproduce purely parthogentically, but I’m not quite sure what the relation might be to egg-size.
A cricket from the family Myrmecophilidae…the ant crickets.
If it’s one from your area, maybe Myrmecophilus pergandei? There are only four species in North America…
I like these little crickets, and only recently learned about their huge eggs. Lots of them in Asia, including a number of arboreals, e.g., M. polyrhachi. And there is a fifth one in NA — I need to track down its current name, but W. M. Wheeler called it M. flavocinctus, noting that it lives with Paratrechina longicornis. I saw it once in Florida when a colony of these got flooded out of a sidewalk crack by lawn sprinklers. It is nearly black with a light pronotal band, like somefirst instar Gryllus. Quite spiffy!
I’m still getting used to the name ending in -us, after decades of being published as “Myrmecophila”.
The labor pain must be horrendous.
Hmmm. Are the eggs the same size as the host’s eggs?
Just for short: You’ve got the most beautiful site, and I am thankful every day for having found it.
Now, I thought it might be one of those crickets and haven’t got nearer to pinpointing it yet, but my best guess at the moment would be Myrmecophilus acervorum, a European cricket called “Ameisengrille” (Antcricket) in German. My guess bases mainly on the fact, that they lay eggs singularly and then only one in 24 hours – sounds to me like a hint…
The other hint might be that they reproduce purely parthogentically, but I’m not quite sure what the relation might be to egg-size.
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