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robust bush cricket

Tafalisca eleuthera Otte & Perez-Gelabert 2009

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map mating pair juvenile juvenile
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male domicile    
Song: Mute.
Identification: Length 22–35 mm. Foretibia without tympanum; male forewings lacking stridulatory modifications. Hindtibia stout; combined length of hindtibia and first tarsal segment no greater than length of hindfemur. Hindwings slightly longer than forewings.
Similar species: None.
Habitat: Red and white mangroves; more rarely on other coastal vegetation and inland on undergrowth in subtropical hammocks.
Season: Probably year-round (no Feb. or March records).
Remarks: These crickets are most easily collected by examining appropriate foliage with a light at night. They may spend daylight hours in tunnels gnawed into soft wood. A caged specimen burrowed into a cork and retreated inside during the days, expertly coiling its antennae so that they did not protrude from the entrance. Short hind tibiae are typical of tunnel-inhabiting crickets.
References: Otte & Perez-Gelabert 2009.
Nomenclature: OSF (Orthoptera Species File Online). This species was formerly misidentified on SINA as Tafalisca lurida F. Walker, but Otte & Perez, in their 2009 monograph Caribbean Crickets made it evident that Florida Tafalisca are definitely not lurida and are, most likely, eleuthera.