Orthoptera of North Carolina

Family (Alpha):

View	Gryllidae Members:	NC Records
Gryllus fultoni (Alexander, 1957) - Southern Wood Cricket

Taxonomy

Family: Gryllidae	Subfamily: Gryllinae	Tribe: Gryllini	Synonym: Acheta fultoni
Comments: One of eighteen species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Weissman and Gray, 2019), five of which have been recorded in North Carolina.
Species Status: Recognized as a distinct form of Gryllus assimilis -- the Wood Cricket -- by Fulton (1952), who also recognized three other, reproductively isolated forms differing in habitats, morphologies, phenologies, and songs. All four were ultimately described as separate species by Alexander (1957).

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions: Capinera et al. (2006; not illustrated)	Online Photographs: SINA; Songs of Insects, Google Images, iNaturalist, GBIF	Technical Description, Adults/Nymphs: Alexander (1957)	SINA 484a.htm
Comments: Tegmina always brown; hind femora reddish or pale and the hind tibiae are also pale (Alexander, 1957). Lacks the red spots that are usually present on the sides of the pronotum in G. rubens, the other species most likely to be found in our area as adults in the spring and early summer.
Total Length [body plus wings; excludes ovipositor]: 15.8 mm, male; 16.5, female (Holotype and Allotype, Alexander, 1957)
Structural Features: The pronotum is widest at the rear edge and the head of the male is definitely narrower than the pronotum (Alexander, 1957). Only short-winged forms have been observed, with the hindwings incapable of flight (Alexander, 1957; Weisman and Gray, 2019). Cerci are yellow and the tips of tegmina of the females are typically separated (Weisman and Gray).
Singing Behavior: Male song consists of a series of chirps, i.e., short series of downslured pulses. In fultoni, chirps are shorter than in our other chirping species -- firmus, pennsylvanicus, and veletis -- consisting typically or two to three pulses, usually less than four, and the number of chirps per second much higher, ranging from 5-7 per second (Alexander, 1957). The dominant frequency is around 4.5 kHz at 76.1 degrees F, which is similar to that of pennsylvanica but higher than in firmus (SINA, 2017).
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Distribution in North Carolina


County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.


Adult Dates: High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft. Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft. Piedmont (Pd) Coastal Plain (CP) Click on graph to enlarge

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Occurs primarily in woodlands (Fulton, 1951; Alexander, 1957), but can also be heard singing in the edges of fields adjoining forests, at sites where G. rubens is singing close by (S. Hall, pers. obs.)

Diet: Probably omnivorous

Observation Methods: Most easily found by song, which males produce both day and night

Abundance/Frequency: Usually heard singing in moderate densities

Adult Phenology: Males start singing in early April and persist until early July. Only veletis of our chirping species has a similar phenology; the others sing in the fall.

See also Habitat Account for General Dry-Mesic Hardwood Forests

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR SNR [S4S5]

State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands

Comments: Appears to be widespread in the Piedmont and associated with common types of habitat; appears to be secure within the state

Image Gallery for Gryllus fultoni - Southern Wood Cricket
	Recorded by: David George Jeff Niznik Richmond Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steve Hall Richmond Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steve Hall, Carol Tingley, and Tom Howard Richmond Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steve Hall, Carol Tingley, and Tom Howard Richmond Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: David George Jeff Niznik Richmond Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steve Hall Chatham Co. Comment: ca. 4 chirps/sec, temp ca. 72 at 8:30 am
	Recorded by: Steve Hall and Dee Stuckey Orange Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steve Hall, David George, Jeff Niznik Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steve Hall Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steve Hall, Dee Stuckey, and Savannah Hall Orange Co. Comment: Several males heard singing in the woods along the trail	Recorded by: Jim Petranka Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steve Hall and Bo Sullivan Scotland Co. Comment: 1 or two males heard at edge of woodlands	Recorded by: Steve Hall Rockingham Co. Comment: One male heard singing along the edge of the woods up from the lake
	Recorded by: Steve Hall, Savannah Hall, Cordell Buckingham Durham Co. Comment: Two males singing within a few feet of one another. 20:00, 77 F; mesic hardwood forest	Recorded by: Steve Hall Orange Co. Comment: Recorded out in a field close to where Gryllus rubens was also singing (constant trill in the background at about the same pitch)

MP3 Gallery for Gryllus fultoni - Southern Wood Cricket
1	Recorded by: Jim Petranka Madison Co. 2021-04-27 Individuals were singing along a moved roadway at the interface of the grassy area and brushy area on the bank; F. rubens was calling along the same stretch on road. Recorded at 81 degrees; 5-6 chirps per second; 3 pulses per chirp; around 4,000 KHZ.

Gryllus fultoni (Alexander, 1957) - Southern Wood Cricket

Image Gallery for Gryllus fultoni - Southern Wood Cricket

MP3 Gallery for Gryllus fultoni - Southern Wood Cricket