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Photo#493441
Gryllidae--three crickets together - male - female

Gryllidae--three crickets together - Male Female
Borrego Springs, San Diego County, California, USA
We found these three crickets and several others in the sand near our 5th wheel in 1991. All these years we've considered them Gryllodes sigillatus. Today we looked at them afresh, and I'm coming to another possibility. The top left one with tiny wings seems like a G. sigillatus female. The top right with half wings seems like a G sigillatus male.
Now, the lower right female. She has long wings. The literature says that rarely male or female G. sigillatus may have long wings. The word is rarely! Also, a key to G. sigillatus is that the antennal bases are close together, at least closer together than Acheta domesticus. It seems to me that the long-winged female has the antennal bases further apart than the other two. Actually her head and pronotum both seem to be broader. Is it possible she may be Acheta domesticus, meeting up with some cousins? We had dozens of these crickets outside the house.

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

I think you've got it worked out correctly
The long-winged female does look like A. domesticus.

There are some differences, not just the wider, rounder head. The pattern on the face is a little different. The maxillary palps (appendages sticking out from by the mouth) appear to be longer. The pattern on the inside of the hind femur is different. The spines on the hind tibia are longer. And, so on.

They do look amazingly similar though. I probably wouldn't have noticed they were different at first glance either.

 
Gryllodes sigillatus vs. Acheta domesticus
Thanks so much for your confirmation, David. We still can't believe these both species are in this one picture. I noticed the House Cricket distribution--the whole eastern U.S., and a tiny patch in southern California. Again, thank you so much!

 
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Interesting thing about distribution maps;
often they are incomplete. Everywhere I've lived in the U.S., there are House Crickets (and I've lived mostly in the West - Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Iowa (well that last one isn't exactly "west" - just "Midwest")), and so on. I've seen them in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, etc. They are in buildings and other protected places - sheds, sewers, barns, etc. - all across the country, and they often move around outside in the summer. You can buy them at almost any pet store anywhere, and some are always escaping. They use them (or at least used to) in school biology classes, so many (most?) schools have them running around too. So, what's the point? Don't be too surprised to see (or hear) them almost anywhere at any time.

 
Incidentally
the distribution maps only show established locations representing sustainable populations. Lone escapees can show up anywhere, but they die off shortly.

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