Other Common Names
Smooth-legged tree crickets
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Explanation of Names
Genus name is from neo Greek new, plus xabea. The latter is another genus of tree crickets. That name is perhaps based on a geographic name from Spain, usually spelled Javea. (This is based on Internet searches.)
Numbers
Nearctica
(1) and Arnett
(2) list one species in genus,
N. bipunctatus, an additional species,
N. formosa, is listed by
SINA.
Identification
Tree crickets in the genus Neoxabea in North America are not green (although newly molted adults may have a greenish tinge to their wings].
The female Two-spotted Tree Cricket has yellowish limbs, reddish brown head and pronotum, whitish wings -- with two large dark blotches visible on the top of the body.
The male is a paler color -- red tinged head and pronotum, pale pink-tinged wings and pale flesh-toned limbs.
Like Oecanthus males, the Neoxabea males have wings that lay atop their body -- but their wings are much slimmer.
Range
As of 1/2009, the SINA range map shows Neoxabea bipunctata occurence to include the area from Nebraska south to Texas then east to Florida then north to New Hampshire then west back to Nebraska. (BugGuide includes Ontario.)
Neoxabea formosa (Brownsville Tree Cricket) only occurs north of Mexico in the extreme southern tip of Texas.
Habitat
Two-spotted Tree Crickets can be found on a wide variety of vegetation including (but not restricted to): Grapevine, Sunflower, Maple Tree, White Pine Tree, Apple Tree, Post Oak Tree. They are generally high on tall plants or at any level in trees.
Season
Typically hatch in June and mate in September through October -- depending on location.
Life Cycle
Undergo a paurometabolous development (Gradual Metamorphosis). Nymphs resemble small adults and gradually develop external wing buds. They live in the same habitat as adults, typically taking the same food.
Remarks
A great source for 'everything you ever wanted to know about tree crickets' is an article written in May 1915 by Bentley B. Fulton in a Technical Bulletin for the New York Agricultural Experiment Station (
The Tree Crickets of New York: Life History and Bionomics)
Internet References
Singing Insects of North America--
Oecanthinae--links to species accounts for
Neoxabea
