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For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
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Photo#279538
Variation in Tibicen davisi - Tibicen davisi

Variation in Tibicen davisi - Tibicen davisi
Madison, Madison County, Mississippi, USA
Size: around 40 mm
All these were collected molting in my back yard during August and September, 2006. Large numbers of T. davisi molt here, especially in September, and I can collect up to 15 a night. I am sure they are all T. davisi because of their small size, around 40 mm, and their large curved 'hammerhead'. I do not see this degree of variation in other Tibicen species in this area. T. davisi varies from all brown to mostly green and the black mid-ventral abdominal stripe can be prominent to entirely lacking. The individuals in the picture are all alive, but chilled in my refrigerator to immobilize them for photography. They are photographed on millimeter graph paper.

amazing... I never find em ar
amazing... I never find em aroun dme. I mean i find dead ones and I hear em in the trees.. but never find em to photograph alive.

 
finding em
The best time to get them molting is during the first 3-4 hours of darkness. Check out the tree trunks with a good flashlight. Bring them home and keep them for a day, and then they will have developed their coloration and are ready to photograph.