Orthoptera of North Carolina

Family (Alpha):

View	Gryllidae Members:	NC Records
Anaxipha tinnulenta Walker & Funk, 2014 - Slow-Tinkling Trig

Taxonomy

Family: Gryllidae	Subfamily: Trigonidiinae	Tribe: Trigonidiini	Synonym: Anaxipha n. sp. F
Comments: One of thirteen species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (SINA, 2017); nine have been recorded in North Carolina. Tinnulenta belongs to the Exigua Species Group, which also includes exigua, tinnula, thomasi, and tinnulacita in North Carolina (Walker and Funk, 2014).
Species Status: Fulton (1956) described three song types used by members of what was then considered Anaxipha exigua, his "slow-tinking" form was later described as tinnulenta by Walker and Funk (2014)

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions:	Online Photographs: SINA, Google Images, iNaturalist, GBIF	Technical Description, Adults/Nymphs: Walker and Funk (2014)	SINA 615a.htm
Comments: A very small, brown Trig. Like other members of the exigua group, it possess a broad dark stripe on the lateral face of the femur (Walker and Funk, 2014). Structural features -- particularly the number of pegs on the stridulatory file -- must be examined to identify this species; the song is also distinctive.
Total Length [body plus wings; excludes ovipositor]: 5.8-6.5 mm, males; 6.4-7.0 mm, females (Walker and Funk, 2014)
Structural Features: Stridulatory file with about 280 teeth (range 253–309). Ovipositor 2.4-2.8 mm, ratio of length of hind femur to ovipositor 1.8-2.0 (see Walker and Funk, 2014 for additional structural characteristics). Walker and Funk did not observe any long-winged forms but did observe one de-alate specimen, i.e., whose wings were secondarily lost.
Singing Behavior: According to Walker and Funk (2014), the song of tinnulenta is a continuous tinkle, with ~5.1 pulses produced per second at a frequency of 6.5 kHz and a temperature of around 77 degrees F (25°C). The song of Allonemobius tinnulus is similar but has a slightly higher pulse rate, producing 5 pulses per sec at 66 degrees F (= 19 C) and up to 9 syll/sec at 77 F (= 25 C) (SINA, 2017).
Diagnostic Song Parameters:

Recording playback at normal speed.
Download Video: "MP4"
Nymphal Stages and Development: Apparently undescribed but unlikely to be distinguishable, particularly from other members of the Exigua Species Groups

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: Our recent records come from low-lying old field habitats or from the edge of the woods bordering these fields. These habitat agree with the description given by Walker and Funk (2014): "generally more restricted to open-canopied habitats such as old fields and woods margins"

Diet: Apparently unrecorded; possibly omnivorous

Observation Methods: Singing males are most easily detected but they may also be captured using sweep netting

Abundance/Frequency: Our records consist of single males singing in widely separated locations

Adult Phenology: Fulton (1951) recorded his slow-tinkling form from the end of July to October in the vicinity of Raleigh; we have one recent record from as late as November 11

See also Habitat Account for General Open, Wet Herblands

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: We currently have records for this species from just a small area of the state, with most of those records being historic. However, it appears to occupy common types of habitats and is likely to found widespread across at least the Piedmont and probably the Coastal Plain.

Image Gallery for Anaxipha tinnulenta - Slow-Tinkling Trig
	Recorded by: Steve Hall Chatham Co. Comment: 5 syllables per second @ 6.8 kHz and about 80F. Calling from shrubs growing along a river shoreline	Recorded by: Steve Hall, Dee Stuckey, and Savannah Hall Orange Co. Comment: 4 syllables per second @ 6.8 kHz and 75F
	Recorded by: Tom Howard Wake Co. Comment: 5 syllables per second @ 5.8 kHz and 69F	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 4 syllables per sec @ 5.8 kHz
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka Clay Co. Comment: 4.5 syllables per sec @ 6.3 kHz	Recorded by: Steve Hall Durham Co. Comment: 3.9 syllables per sec. @ 5.6 kHz
	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Burke Co. Comment: 4.5 syllables per sec. @ 5.8 kHz	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: 4 syllables per sec. @ 5.2 kHz
	Recorded by: Kenneth Kneidel Burke Co. Comment: 4.5 syllables per sec. @ 6.4 kHz	Recorded by: Steve Hall Moore Co. Comment: 4 syllables per sec. @ 5.3 kHz
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka Madison Co. Comment: 8 syllables per second @ 7.1 kHz	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment: Call was coming from below head level. Interesting that when looking directly at a call I couldn't hear it, but when turning my ear toward the call I could. In a sense I could turn the call off or on by rotating my head.
	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steve Hall Iredell Co. Comment: 7 syllables/sec. @ 7.5 kHz and 78 F; 10:19. Recorded in weedy vegetation along a road
	Recorded by: Steve Hall Orange Co. Comment: 4.5 syllables per sec. @ 5.8 kHz. Recorded in an old field; ~ 77 F (25 C)	Recorded by: Steve Hall Orange Co. Comment: 7.5 syllables per second at 6.8 kHz. Singing in a stand of Dry Oak-Hickory Forest, with Phyllopalpus and Anaxipha thomasi in the background
	Recorded by: Steve Hall Orange Co. Comment: 4.5 syllables per second @ 7 kHz, ~ 73 F (= 23 C); recorded in a fairly wet, old field habitat -- not the typical dry pine-oak woodlands used by Allonemobius tinnulus

MP3 Gallery for Anaxipha tinnulenta - Slow-Tinkling Trig
1	Recorded by: Tom Howard Wake Co. 2024-09-08 5 syllables per second @ 69F	2	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. 2023-10-14 72 F, calling above head height in a forest of secondary growth
3	Recorded by: Jim Petranka Clay Co. 2022-08-24 Calling from a row of arbor-vitae; ca. 76 degrees.	4	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Burke Co. 2021-10-08
5	Recorded by: Ken Kneidel Mecklenburg Co. 2020-11-13 calling from saplings throughout the day, roughly 2 to 4 meters up, 4 pulses per second, 5.3 kHz, 72 F	6	Recorded by: Kenneth Kneidel Burke Co. 2020-10-24 5 pulses per second, 6.4 kHz, 74 F, calling from trees in forested margin of lake
7	Recorded by: Steve Hall Moore Co. 2020-10-15

Anaxipha tinnulenta Walker & Funk, 2014 - Slow-Tinkling Trig

Image Gallery for Anaxipha tinnulenta - Slow-Tinkling Trig

MP3 Gallery for Anaxipha tinnulenta - Slow-Tinkling Trig