The Mormon cricket, Anabrus simplex (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), is a flightless shield-backed katydid that undergoes major outbreaks in the western United States. During outbreaks, Mormon crickets form large, cohesive migratory bands that move en mass across the landscape. Using a combination of laboratory and field techniques, we are addressing 2 fundamental questions about Mormon cricket band formation and movement: (1) What behaviors underlie band formation, and (2) Can band movement be predicted? Due to the similarity between Mormon cricket bands and those of locust species, Mormon crickets are commonly assumed to exhibit locust-like behavioral changes in response to changes in their population density. We are addressing this hypothesis in the laboratory through a series of behavioral assays conducted on Mormon crickets reared under isolated and crowded conditions. The environmental cues that determine the movement of Mormon cricket bands once they have formed are unknown. In the field, we have used a combination of radio-telemetry and harmonic radar to track the movement of individual Mormon crickets over time. Using these technologies, we empirically demonstrated that band-forming individuals move much more extensively and in a similar direction relative to individuals in non-outbreak populations. Our ongoing goal is to relate movement parameters to local environmental variables in an effort to develop predictive models of Mormon cricket band movement.
Species 1: Orthoptera Tettigoniidae Anabrus simplex (Mormon cricket)
Keywords: behavior, tracking
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