Orthoptera of North Carolina

Family (Alpha):

View	Gryllidae Members:	NC Records
Allonemobius griseus funeralis (Hart, 1906) - Dusky Ground Cricket

Taxonomy

Family: Gryllidae	Subfamily: Nemobiinae	Tribe: Pteronemobiini	Synonym: Nemobius fasciatus funeralis, Allonemobius funeralis
Comments: One of ten species in this genus, all of which occur in North America north of Mexico (Cigliano et al., 2017). Eight species have been recorded in North Carolina.
Species Status: The Orthoptera Species File treats Allonemobius griseus griseus and A. g. funeralis as subspecies. Some authors,however -- including SINA -- treat them as full species. We follow OSF as our primary taxonomic authority for the orthoptera in general. However, the two taxa appear to be strongly allopatric, occupy different types of habitat, and have different song patterns.

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions:	Online Photographs: BugGuide, Google Images, iNaturalist, GBIF	Technical Description, Adults/Nymphs: Hebard (1913)
Comments: A dark brown ground cricket with a suffusion of gray (Hebard, 1913). The face below the antennae is shining black, contrasting with the top of the head that has alternating dark and pale stripes similar to those of other members of this genus. The body and wings are dark but distinctively covered with grayish hair. The nominate subspecies is similar but is not as dark brown.
Total Length [body plus wings; excludes ovipositor]: 7.9 mm, type female (Hebard, 1913)
Structural Features: Hindwings were reported to be absent by Hebard (1913), but Fulton (1931) lists both griseus and funeralis among species possessing long-winged forms. Fulton also noticed, however, that a long-winged male lost its wings shortly after being caged. The ovipositor in funeralis is fairly short, approximately 3/4 the length of the hind femur. This is the main structural difference from the nominate subspecies, where the ovipostor is about 1/4 longer than the hind femur (Hebard, 1913).
Singing Behavior: Fulton (1931) described the song of funeralis as a "low, weak buzz with a faint, shrill overtone". Irregular breaks occur at roughly 5-10 second intervals, but the trills can be continuous for up to 15-30 seconds. Following a break, the song starts off softly then undergoes a crescendo from a third to half a second, after which the amplitude remains steady. Fulton also noted that the sound quality is similar to that of Eunemobius carolinus, although that species shows more irregular amplitude modulation and often has a beat produced by groupings of pulses. Spectrograms for subspecies funeralis are absent from both SINA and the Macaulay Library, but those shown for subspecies griseus have a dominant pitch of over 8 kHz, with approximately 30-40 pulses produced per second, both of which agree with our observations. Unlike the fairly long trills that Fulton described, however, the song of the nominate subspecies shows breaks at frequent intervals; each trill lasts only about 1.5 seconds, which is much shorter than what Fulton described for funeralis. The songs we have recorded are similar to the songs of Neonemobius cubensis, which also consist of high pitched trills that increase in amplitude. The pulse rate of that species, however, is much higher, mostly above 42 pulses per second. The trills of Allonemobius fultoni also show a similar increase in amplitude, but are shorter in length, lower in pitch, and have a slower pulse rate.
Diagnostic Song Parameters:

Recording playback at normal speed.
Download Video: "MP4"

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: Fulton (1931) describes this cricket as associated with dry, grassy old field habitats dominated by Andropogon virginicus. They reach their greatest abundance where the grass clumps are sparse enough to allow smaller grass species or clovers to grow in between. We also have one record from a greenway that runs along a floodplain terrace where grasses other than Andropogons are dominant. This range of habitats contrasts strongly with that of Allonemobius griseus grieus, which is strongly associated with dry-xeric sand and gravel barrens.

Diet: Probably omnivorous

Observation Methods: Fulton (1931) describes this cricket as secretive -- rarely coming out from under vegetation -- and consequently seldom seen. It is most easily detected by its song.

Abundance/Frequency:

Adult Phenology: North Carolina records all come from late summer

See also Habitat Account for General Successional and Semi-Natural Grasslands

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 SNR [S3S4]

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

Comments: Fulton (1931) noted that this species seldom comes out from under grass clumps and is difficult to capture, a factor he thought might account for its rarity in collections. Its association with Broom Sedge fields suggests that it should be common and widespread, but with hanges in agriculture to more intensive cultivation, with fewer fields left fallow and smaller amounts of field edges left uncultivated, many species associated with semi-natural grasslands are on the decline. More information is needed before the conservation status of this species can be determined.

Image Gallery for Allonemobius griseus funeralis - Dusky Ground Cricket
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger and Donald Zepp Johnston Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Mark Basinger and Donald Zepp Johnston Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steve Hall, Dee Stuckey, and Savannah Hall Orange Co. Comment: 30 syllables per second @ 8.4 kHz and 75F	Recorded by: Steve Hall, Dee Stuckey, and Savannah Hall Orange Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Steve Hall Durham Co. Comment: 30 syllables per seconds @ 8.3 khz. Sewerline right-of-way.	Recorded by: Steve Hall and Savannah Hall Orange Co. Comment: 28 syllables per second @ 7.9 khz. Powerline right-of-way
	Recorded by: Steve Hall and Savannah Hall Orange Co. Comment: 30 syllables per second @ 8.0 khz. Powerline right-of-way	Recorded by: Steve Hall and Dee Stuckey Orange Co. Comment: 30 pulses/sec. @ 8.4 kHz and ~79 F, 19:45. Singing from heavy grass cover
	Recorded by: Steve Hall Orange Co. Comment: Temperature was about 88 F (= 31 C). Recorded in a dry field dominated by Andropogon virginicus, maintained by mowing	Recorded by: Steve Hall Orange Co. Comment: Single trill showing an increase in amplitude and an abrupt end
	Recorded by: Steve Hall Orange Co. Comment: 30 pulses per second and a dominant frequency of 8.5 kHz for the loudest portion of the song

Allonemobius griseus funeralis (Hart, 1906) - Dusky Ground Cricket

Image Gallery for Allonemobius griseus funeralis - Dusky Ground Cricket