A Guide to Crickets of Australia

By David Rentz and You Ning Su

Cricket song is a sound of the Australian bush. Even in cities, the rasping calls signify Australia’s remarkable cricket biodiversity. Crickets are notable for a variety of reasons. When their population booms, some of these species become agricultural pests and destroy crop pastures. Some introduced species are of biosecurity concern. Other crickets are important food sources for native birds, reptiles and mammals, as well as domestic pets. Soon you might even put them in your cake or stir-fry, as there is a rapidly growing industry for cricket products for human consumption.

Featuring keys, distribution maps, illustrations and detailed colour photographs from CSIRO’s Australian National Insect Collection, A Guide to Crickets of Australia allows readers to reliably identify all 92 described genera and many species from the Grylloidea (true crickets) and Gryllotalpoidea (mole crickets and ant crickets) superfamilies. Not included are the Raspy Crickets (Gryllacrididae), King Crickets (Anostostomatidae) or the so-called ‘Pygmy Mole Crickets’ (Caelifera), which despite their common names are not related to true crickets. Natural history enthusiasts and professionals will find this an essential guide.

Certificate of Commendation, The Royal Zoological Society of NSW 2020 Whitley Awards: Invertebrate Field Guide

• Language: English
• Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Release date: Jun 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781486305087

Book preview

A GUIDE TO

CRICKETS

OF AUSTRALIA

David Rentz and You Ning Su

© David Rentz and CSIRO 2019

All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, duplicating or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Contact CSIRO Publishing for all permission requests.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.

ISBN: 9781486305063 (pbk.)

ISBN: 9781486305070 (epdf)

ISBN: 9781486305087 (epub)

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Front cover: (main image) female Cardiodactylus novaeguineae; (top images, left to right) male Trigonidium bundilla, male Homoeoxipha lycoides, male Ornebius coorumbena.

Back cover: (left to right) male Unka boreena, male Teleogryllus oceanicus, female Hemiphonus tindalei. All cover photos by David Rentz

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Cover design by James Kelly

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CSIRO Publishing publishes and distributes scientific, technical and health science books, magazines and journals from Australia to a worldwide audience and conducts these activities autonomously from the research activities of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of, and should not be attributed to, the publisher or CSIRO. The copyright owner shall not be liable for technical or other errors or omissions contained herein. The reader/user accepts all risks and responsibility for losses, damages, costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from using this information.

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Contents

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgements

Australian National Insect Collection

Introduction

Australian cricketers

Biology

Cricket life cycles and development

Collecting techniques useful for crickets

Morphology

Crickets and culture

Crickets as food

Cricket identification

Superfamily GRYLLOIDEA

Superfamily GRYLLOTALPOIDEA

List of the crickets of Australia

Glossary

Entomological supplies

Websites and special interest groups

Orthopteroid food mix

Cricket recipes

Bibliography

Index

‘Séance of Sad Crickets’, Buck Richardson (see p. 225).

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Daniel Otte and David B Weissman.

Preface

Compiling a book on Australian crickets has been more difficult than we realised at the start. With more than 400 species described, we soon discovered that there were many more undescribed ones than we ever imagined. We actually were happiest when we identified a species with a described name. This just highlights the need for such a guide. The authors hope it will stimulate an interest in this fascinating and somewhat confusing group of insects. Users will discover that not all crickets are easy to find. Singing (calling) males are usually difficult to locate because besides being secretive and rather uncommon, they can be ventriloquial and frustratingly difficult to locate. Once the singer has been discovered, skill is required to capture the insect. We discuss various techniques that will aid in collecting crickets but, be assured, they do not always work, even for the experts. Crickets can be found during the day as well as after dark. Once collected, the cricket can be isolated and induced to produce its song in captivity. Methods of making and analysing recordings are discussed as well as techniques to use for building a collection of crickets. Links to the ‘cricket section’ of the Australian Faunal Directory and the Orthoptera Species file can aid with learning where the cricket fits in within the scheme of Australian and international classifications. We briefly discuss the importance of crickets in culture, especially in Asian countries where there is interest in keeping live crickets for the songs they produce and the use of crickets in the sport of cricket fighting. However, with the increasing use of the internet and growing population, both of these cultural pursuits are in decline.

We hope that we can kindle an interest and understanding of the origins and extent of the Australian cricket fauna from the smallest species (nemobiines, p. 320) to the largest (podoscirtines, p. 124).

Acknowledgements

This book could not have been produced without the generous cooperation of many individuals. We are in debt to those who have provided photographs for the book and information on types, and who have made suggestions about the coverage of the book.

Haylee Weaver and Alberto Venchi of the Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, were helpful in providing maps and making many suggested changes to the Faunal List of Australian Crickets which is up to date with the publication date of this book (p. iv). Early in the preparation of the book, Dr Alice Wells and Ms K Geromboux provided helpful suggestions and access to the facilities of ABRS. Drs P Gullan and P Cranston are thanked for permission to use illustrations from their classic book: The Insects. Dr P Gullan supervised YN Su’s work on the Australian Nemobiinae that has resulted in the development of his study of crickets. Dr M Jennions’s work on sexual selection in crickets provided the opportunity for YN Su to continue his cricket interests and resulted in the gynandromorphs of Teleogryllus commodus reported on p. 24.

Dr G Cowper and D Funk of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University helped with questions about specimens in their care. Dr D Otte provided a series of photos taken on the Alexander and Otte Expedition to Australia in 1960 (p. xiv). Dr P Hudson, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, provided photos of types in the care of the museum that helped solve several taxonomic problems. Mr Derek Smith and Mr R Cox, Australian Museum, Sydney, provided photographs of type specimens in the museum’s collection as did Dr N Tatarnic, Western Australian Museum, Perth. Susan Wright and G Thompson, C Lambkin of the Queensland Museum are thanked for help with type specimens in their care.

Dr Tony Robillard, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, helped with the identification of several difficult species. Dr Ian Naumann provided the image of the wonderful stone cricket taken in Laos. Mr CM Wang and Ms YN Chang, Taiwan, enabled the second author to visit the cricket theme park in Tainan, Taiwan. Dr J Kathirithamby, Department of Zoology, Oxford University, provided identification of the first record of a stylops recorded from a cricket (p. 14). Mr Gary Wilson made observations of the biology of several cricket species that live in his block of rainforest.

Mr Buck Richardson accompanied the first author of most fieldtrips in search of crickets over the past several years. These trips have resulted in many crickets photographed for the first time and discoveries in their behaviour, ecology and geographic distribution. His companionship is most appreciated.

Dr DB Weissman, a colleague and friend for over 45 years, has made several helpful suggestions that have improved the quality and coverage of this book.

We thank Mr Scott Morrison, formerly Ranger Coordinator, Talaroo Station, Mt Surprise, Qld, for his interest in our project and encouraging the discovery of crickets on the station property as well as on his own property in Koah, Qld. Similarly, Dr Michele Schiffer, Station Manager, Daintree Rainforest Observatory, James Cook University, Cairns, for permission to observe crickets on the station grounds. Dr Jeanette Kemp, Wildlife Ecologist and Dr J Kanowski, National Science and Conservation Manager, Australian Wildlife Conservancy, are thanked for allowing us access to Brooklyn Reserve, Mt Molloy, Qld for the purpose of surveying for crickets that inhabit this important portion of the north Queensland environment. Professor TJ Walker, who provided the first author with a gratis reel-to-reel tape recorder in the 1960s for the purpose of recording Californian crickets and other orthopteroids, has provided helpful suggestions during the preparation of this book. Dr RE Love is thanked for comments on the scaled crickets. Dr T Houston, Western Australia Museum, Perth, and G Monteith and C Lambkin, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, answered many questions about specimens in their care. Dr K Walker, Melbourne Museum, has answered questions about crickets in the collection. N Bailey and Peter Moran, St Andrews University, Fife, Scotland, provided information and publications relating to Teleogryllus species, their behaviour, physiology and mate choice selection. We also thank the Pet Café, Smithfield, Qld.

Dr RB Halliday is thanked for determination of mites on the crickets. Mr Murray Upton is thanked for his suggestions and encouragement during the course of this project.

Dr George Hsiung, retired, MacDonald College, McGill University, Canada, and Dr Xing-bao Jin, retired, provided photographs of cricket ‘competitions’ in Asia and information on crickets and folklore, as well as recipes where crickets are used as human food.

The following people provided photographic images that have greatly aided in the coverage of this book: M Anthony, W Archer, P Branwhite, G Cocks, K Ellingsen, A Elliott, R Farrow, H Frank, P Gullan, J Hasenpusch, D Heald, A Henderson, P Honan, B King, J and F Hort, I Hutton, D and F Knowles, X Li, S Mawson (SM), C Mawson (CM), K McLachlan, N Monaghan, S and D Mawson, S and A Pearson, B Revell, B Richardson, R Richardson, M Robinson, L Sanders, HT Su, G Tate, G Wilson, R Wimbush, P Wise and P Zborowski. Those whose photos have been selected are identified where they are used. P Naskrecki is thanked for providing the photo of L Chopard which resides on the website of the Orthopterists’ Society. Dr D de Mello Mendes is thanked for providing an image of a Changa Mole Cricket. D Baume and J Hasenpusch have provided the first author with many live crickets collected on local fieldtrips. Mr P Shanahan provided many live crickets from his property in Kuranda, Qld that were used in photography or sound recording. Dr M Moulds also provided live crickets for photography from time to time. Photographs not named with a photographer are those of the authors of this guide.

Ms J Waldock and Mr D Elford of the Western Australian Museum provided photographs of the cave-dwelling cricket, Ngamarlanguia luisae, at the suggestion of Dr W Humphreys.

Ms Amy Chesher, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies, Canberra, is thanked for searching and providing photographs of NB Tindale for use in this book.

Dr D Yeates, Director, Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC), and Dr F Turco, Collection Manager, CSIRO, National Facilities and Collections, are thanked for encouragement during the production of this book. We hope their efforts will stimulate the study of crickets based on the extensive collections in ANIC. Fieldwork with the colleagues of the second author include ED Edwards, A Slipinsky, M Horak, A Zwick, L Teasdale, G Cocking, B Lessard, K Meusemann, A Landford, X Li, M Jin, J Lumbers, D Yeates, MF Braby and D Ferguson. Ms S Routely kindly translated a number important papers. The Lepidoptera Unit, ANIC, is thanked for encouraging YN Su to pursue his interests in crickets while attending to his duties in the section.

Ms Lauren Webb, Development Editor, CSIRO Publishing, has kept in contact during the entire time this book was being written, providing comments and suggestions.

Ms B Foster and Ms HM Yang, KC Su, HT Su, Mr J Cricket and Radio Dismuke are thanked for their companionship and encouragement over the development of this effort. We thank any people that we have missed for their interest in seeing this project to completion. Any errors are those of the authors.

Australian National Insect Collection

Photo: Alan Landford

The Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) is the world’s largest and most important collection of Australian insects globally. Managed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) since its inception almost a century ago, the collection is a critical reference for anybody studying the taxonomy and systematics of Australian insects.

With over 12 million specimens from all of Australia’s biomes, and extensive holdings of all major insect groups, as well as mites and nematodes, the collection is critical for those requiring authoritative identification of insects, including pests and threats in biosecurity and agriculture. The collection has 30 paid staff, and an even larger cohort of Honorary Fellows, Visiting Scientists and volunteers. We have two staff embedded in the collection providing identifications and information for the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, and a number of staff supplied through the earnings from two separate endowments, the Elwood and Hannah Zimmerman Trust and the Schlinger Foundation. The collection continues to host a vibrant community of postgraduate students and early career researchers studying invertebrate diversity.

ANIC is very proud to be able to support the publication of this book, the first focused on Australian crickets (Orthoptera: Grylloidea and Gryllotalpoidea). These are an extremely diverse group of insects, with almost 100 genera and over 500 species so far described from Australia. These fascinating but often secretive insects are more often heard than seen by most Australians. The huge variety of chirps, buzzes and squeaks that male crickets make when singing to attract a mate is a constant reminder of their presence in our gardens and bushland. Crickets and their relatives are notorious ventriloquists, having the ability to disguise the source of their song from predators, and from entomologists trying to track them down. Their song always signals that there is likely to be a healthy population of other terrestrial invertebrates nearby as well. In recent decades the sounds produced by crickets, and the structures they use to produce the sounds, have been used increasingly as a valuable taxonomic character to distinguish species.

A major undertaking in the study of Australian crickets began in 1960 with a year-long fieldtrip by Prof RD Alexander of the University of Michigan and his graduate student, Daniel Otte. This endeavour was sponsored by and number of granting agencies in the United States and elsewhere. CSIRO and ANIC acted as the host for the pair as they traversed the country far and wide, collecting thousands of specimens and making hundreds of recordings of cricket calling songs. All of the specimens are deposited in the ANIC Collection. Their efforts resulted in the 1983 publication A Monograph of the Australian Crickets, published by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Due to the efforts of Alexander and Otte, and many other collectors, the ANIC cricket collection has grown to over 115 000 specimens. More recent collecting and taxonomic work has rendered the 1983 monograph out of date and difficult to use. The purpose of the guidebook is to highlight the crickets as an important group of Australian insects worthy of further study. The book treats almost all genera, and almost half the number of described species. In addition, it provides information on how to collect, rear and preserve crickets. A précis of Australian and non-Australian entomological cricket specialists provides a history of study of these insects in Australia. A complete checklist of cricket species and a list of relevant publications will provide the user with an entré into the study of Australian crickets.

David Yeates, You Ning Su and David Rentz

Introduction

The Australian cricket fauna is extremely diverse when compared to that in other parts of the world. The presence of crickets almost everywhere in Australia has been an important factor leading to the writing of this guidebook. Otte and Alexander’s monograph (1983) is an important entrée into the Australian crickets, but there have been many taxonomic changes and many additional descriptions that make using the monograph very difficult for the non-specialist entomologists. We also hope that this photographic excursion into the world of Australian crickets will stimulate others to study cricket biology and classification.

What is meant by ‘cricket’ in this book

Several unrelated taxa in the Australian fauna are called ‘crickets’ and some readers may be disappointed in not finding them included in the pages of this book. We are treating only the members of the Orthoptera superfamilies Grylloidea (true crickets) and Gryllotalpoidea (mole crickets and ant crickets). The Australian Faunal Directory (Australian Biological Resources Study n.d.) currently lists 520 described species in the Grylloidea in 89 genera. The Gryllotalpoidea adds another three genera and some 19 species. The Orthoptera Species File (OSF), a global catalogue (Cigliano et al. n.d.), lists 6058 cricket species in 906 genera for the world, including Australia. The Australian fauna includes representatives of almost all of the major cricket groups.

Acanthogryllacris sp., a typical winged Raspy Cricket, family Gryllacrididae.

Not included in this book are the Raspy Crickets (Gryllacrididae). They are placed in their own superfamily, Gryllacridoidea, and are more closely related to katydids (Tettigoniidae) than they are to crickets. The King Crickets, family Anostostomatidae, are also in their own superfamily, the Stenopelmatoidea, and are not included here. The so-called ‘Pygmy Mole Crickets’ are in another part of the Orthoptera entirely; in fact, they are in a different suborder, the Caelifera. Because they are unrelated to ‘true crickets’, we are not including these insects in this book. Such is the problem with common names. What may look like a cricket may not always be a cricket!

White-kneed King Cricket, Penalva flavocalceata (Karny).

Australian King Cricket, Anostostoma australasiae Gray, megacephalic male.

Why are there so many cricket species in Australia? Probably the most important consideration is the tremendous diversity of habitats and plant associations that occur on this continent. That, coupled with isolation and the complex geology of Australia, may also contribute to the diversity. Crickets can be found everywhere in Australia from the intertidal zone to the tops of the highest mountains and tops of the tallest trees. Even in cities endemic species can be heard and seen in local parks, and introduced species such as the Indian House Cricket (p. 123) can be heard in nature as well as in homes. In addition, caves, such as the Black Mountain Caves, north Qld, and the caves of the Cape Range, Western Australia, harbour unique cave-adapted crickets. As seems to be the case with other Australian insect groups, once you start to look, you find more and more species than ever expected. Such is the situation with crickets. At a given locality more than one species in a genus can often be found. Silent as well as sound-producing species occur together almost everywhere. At the home of the first author in Kuranda, Qld, 56 cricket species of both superfamilies have been found. These include species that live in the ground, in leaf litter, in termite mounds, on leaf surfaces and under bark.

Amusurgus tinka, a silent cricket of northern rainforest understorey vegetation.

Amusurgus kanyakis, a silent cricket of northern rainforest understorey vegetation that spends the day in leaf litter and emerges after dark to feed on particulate matter on leaf surfaces.

Gryllodes sigillatus, the Indian House Cricket, an introduced species that lives in and around human habitation as well as in nature in the northern tropics.

Diversity and endemicity

Otte and Alexander hypothesised that the Australian crickets probably reached the continent by way of New Guinea and the Torres Strait. They based this on the proximity of New Guinea and the similarity of the two faunas. With the majority of species in the north-eastern part of Australia, the proximity of New Guinea, the diversity of habitats and the similarity of climates, they were able to record more than 100 species in various habitats between Iron Range, Qld, and Sydney. We can report probably half again that number of undescribed species to further emphasise their claim. Rainforest crickets, including those living along rainforest margins, have similarity to the New Guinea fauna. The great majority of the Australian continent is quite xeric and the crickets from these areas are distinctive and not at all related to those from New Guinea. Otte and Alexander note that many investigators have related the Australian fauna more to that of Asia and Africa. Parallel evolution has resulted in confusion, with the generic placement of some desert crickets superficially resembling genera such as Eurygryllodes, for example. This has been corrected to a large extent since their monograph. The south-eastern portion of the continent, including Tasmania, has relatively few cricket species. Several Tasmanian crickets are flightless and are even shared with the mainland, substantiating relatively recent connections with mainland Australia.

Phaloria anapina, female, an occupant of Iron Range, Qld, and a member of a genus shared with New Guinea.

Unka boreena, a common rainforest cricket in the Daintree and Kuranda Range area, Qld.

Utona species, a silent cricket of northern Queensland about which little is known.

The Alexander and Otte Expedition (1968–69)

This guidebook would not be possible were it not for the pioneering fieldwork in Australia undertaken by Professor RD Alexander and his graduate student at the time, Daniel Otte. With funding provided by the United States National Science Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation, and encouragement from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the University of Michigan, they did their fieldwork in Australia from June 1968 to August 1969. The CSIRO Division of Entomology and Melbourne University served as their hosts. Some 46 000 miles (73 600 km) of travel `resulted in more than 900 field stops. This effort was designed to survey as completely as possible the Australian cricket fauna. In addition, major Australian collections where cricket specimens were housed were visited. Specimens were borrowed and localities noted for further visitation. They commenced their activities with the knowledge that fewer than 150 species were recorded in the literature from Australia. (Their subsequent monograph includes 492 species. See Otte and Alexander 1983).

Fig. 1 shows their travel route. Many of the sites visited were later to become type localities for their many new species. The black circles indicate both collecting, tape recording and ‘listening’ sites during their trip. Almost 1000 localities were sampled. Calling songs of the crickets were tape-recorded in the field and usually associated with the crickets producing them.

Their trip began in northern Queensland. They soon discovered that the number of new species was very large, larger than they ever imagined. The pair soon became aware that the vast number of undescribed species were in the northern rainforests, as well as other Queensland habitats. They predicted that their resulting monograph would cover at least 75% of the species, described and undescribed, found on the Australian continent. Otte and Alexander admitted that this was just the beginning and they had probably missed many undescribed species, especially those that produce no calls. We certainly concur with this.

Fig. 1. Route of the Alexander and Otte Expedition to Australia 1968–69. Modified from Otte and Alexander (1983) with permission.

In their monograph they described 376 new species in many genera. As noted above, they felt that through their collecting and listening techniques, they obtained at least 75% of the Australian cricket fauna. Fortunately, they were able to discover more than 90% of the described species in the field. Some of these names were very old and they were fortunate to be able to document the calling songs and extend the locality information for these species. Most of their new species were found to be in the north, especially in the rainforests of north Queensland. Our fieldwork suggests that they were only scratching the surface when it came to species numbers. Based on more than 30 years’ collecting in many different parts of the country, we conclude that, perhaps, twice the number of species listed in the monograph exist in Australia. During the preparation of this guidebook, we were pleasantly surprised when we discovered a species that we could positively identify as a ‘named’ one! Generally, we were confronted with undescribed species.

Along the road to Cooktown. Photo: D Otte.

Alexander and Otte relied on their listening abilities to a great extent to determine if crickets were present at a given location. This is useful for species that sing. However, we have discovered that not all singing species sing every day or night. Additionally, there is a suite of generally unrelated crickets that do not sing at all. These will be discussed on p. 15.

How to use this book

These pages are meant to be used as you would a typical field guide: thumbing through until you find something that approximates the cricket you want to identify. Then double check that the distribution map matches your collection locality. For the more difficult species, the notes and illustrations should help to identify the specimen. Remember, there are many undescribed species in Australia and many described ones that are not included here. We present examples of most genera and many species, but not all of them, so don’t give up and become discouraged if you cannot make a rapid identification. The keys and illustrations should be of considerable help. If still unsure, perhaps you have encountered one of the many undescribed taxa that are part of the Australian insect fauna.

The scientific names include the name of the person who first described and named the cricket. Taxonomists who use this book to identify species need the author’s name for completeness. Authors’ names are less necessary for well-known groups such as birds and reptiles. But with insects the name of the author can be helpful in leading one to the literature as well as indicating precision with localities, for example. Some authors are more precise than others! The uninitiated will note that some authors’ names are in brackets, such as Teleogryllus commodus (Walker). This means that the species commodus was originally described by Walker, but in a genus other than Teleogryllus. A quick glance at the Orthoptera Species File (p. 382) will reveal that T. commodus was originally described in Gryllus, which was considered a very large cricket genus in the 19th century. Gryllus is presently a much more restricted genus. While ‘brackets or no brackets’ may be of little concern to the average user of this text, they can help to alert a taxonomist to the fact that the present concept of the genus is different from that as originally intended. Another possible reason for a species being placed in another genus is that the original genus was ‘pre-occupied’. This means that at the time of the description of the genus, the author was unaware that the name had already been used for another zoological organism. In zoology, each generic name must be unique. There are catalogues that list all generic names but from time to time mistakes are made, especially before the internet existed. The Catalogue of Zoological Nomenclature also states that a species name consists of a ‘genus and species’. For this reason, species are never related as ‘commodus’, for example. This taxon is correctly portrayed as T. commodus.

In the outback, central Australia RD Alexander searching for crickets. Photo: D Otte.

R.D. Alexander recording on roadside verge. Photo: D Otte.

Australian cricketers

Almost all of the names given to Australian crickets have been assigned by overseas entomologists. One of the reasons for this book is to attempt to stimulate interest on the part of local students and professionals in this important group of insects. There are wonderful opportunities for not only taxonomic study, but also for ecological, behavioural and acoustic studies. Some of the most important describers of Australian genera and species are presented below.

Richard D Alexander

(b. 1930; d. 2018)

Emeritus Professor and Emeritus Curator of Insects, University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology. Had a broad interest in insects ranging from orthopteroids to cicadas. Mostly concerned with singing species, especially crickets and cicadas. He also conducted research on evolution of behaviour in insects as well as that of horses, dogs and primates, including humans.

Richard Alexander. Courtesy of D Otte.

Karl Frederich Brunner von Wattenwyl.

Karl Frederich Brunner von Wattenwyl

(b. 13 June 1823, Bern, Switzerland; d. 24 August 1914, Kirchdorf, Austria)

Worked as a postmaster and later became Professor of Physics at the University of Bern, 1850–55. He published some of the most influential works on the classification of insects, the results of which are still used today. He was knighted in 1880. His collections are in many European museums.

Lucien Chopard

(b. 31 August 1885, Paris, France; d. 16 November 1971, Paris, France)

Chopard joined the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, in 1931 and spent most of his career working on mantids and crickets, retiring in 1955. He produced several revisionary classifications, which are still followed to some extent. He described a large number of Australian cricket genera and species represented in this book.

Lucien Chopard. Photo: ES Ross.

AV Gorochov

(b. 1952)

Gorochov is responsible for many of the taxonomic changes of the Australian crickets above the genus level. These changes are based largely on similarities and differences of genitalic structures. In addition, he has described several Australian species, some with scanty data that does not include dates, collectors or precise localities. The types of these species are in the national collection in St Petersburg, Russia. He is with the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia.

EJF Le Guillou

(b. 1806, Quimperlé, France; d. 1855)

Le Guillou was the Chief Surgeon on the ships l’Astrolab and l’Zélée. But he was mainly a collector of natural history creatures and geological samples. Wrote several papers based on collections made on the voyage of the Zéleé, 1837–40, to the South Pacific. He is credited as describing the widespread oceanic Field Cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus (Le Guillou).

Carl Linnaeus

(b. 23 May 1707, Småland, Sweden; d. 10 January 1778, Uppsala, Sweden)

Linnaeus founded the binomial system of nomenclature in Systema Naturae, the naming system which is used in biology today. Primarily a botanist, Linnaeus published, mostly in Latin, but studied many animal groups as well as plants. Became professor of Botany and Medicine at Uppsala. He was knighted in 1761 and his moniker then became Carl von Linné. In this book, the most important species he described is Acheta domesticus, the House Cricket, a cosmopolitan species.

Carl Linnaeus.