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Photo#97651
Anabrus - Mormon Cricket? - Anabrus simplex - female

Anabrus - Mormon Cricket? - Anabrus simplex - Female
Glacier National Park - Hidden Lake, Glacier County, Montana, USA
September 24, 2006
Size: Aprox. 2"
This specimen was along Hidden Lake trail, just under the west side of the continental divide, in the high country of Glacier National Park, on a steep gravel slope with fairly dense ground cover at about 6700' of altitude (see picture of trail). The photos match the identification and illustration of Anabrus simplex (Mormon Cricket) in the Audubon Field Guide to North American Insects (1988) p. 430, il 257 with the exception of the markings on top of the prothorax. This female may have been in the process of depositing eggs under the rock at the time of the photo (she did not move while photographed and I left her undisturbed). Although the name is "cricket", I believe this is actually a katydid. Is this identification correct?

Images of this individual: tag all
Anabrus - Mormon Cricket? - Anabrus simplex - female Anabrus - Mormon Cricket? - Anabrus simplex - female Anabrus - Mormon Cricket? - Anabrus simplex - female

Moved
Moved from Anabrus.

I strongly suspect that this is indeed
Anabrus simplex. The dark markings on top of the pronotum are more common on A. longipes, but otherwise it "looks" like A. simplex. Based on published records, the location should have A. simplex.

Moved

Right subfamily at least.
You are on the right track. A. simplex is highly variable in coloration and markings, so it can't be ruled out; nor can other species of Anabrus that might occur there. Please check out the website "Singing Insects of North America" for other possibilities in other genera, too. Each species has a range map, so that can help exclude similars. Still, there is no substitute for examining the specimen in hand....

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