{"id":16541,"date":"2025-09-24T09:02:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T14:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?p=16541"},"modified":"2025-09-24T09:13:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T14:13:36","slug":"says-trig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/says-trig\/","title":{"rendered":"Say\u2019s Trig"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Howdy, BugFans,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BugLady has always wanted to see a trig, because – what an interesting name for an insect (a name, it turns out, that\u2019s a shortened version of its family, Trigonidiidae). Trigs, members of the grasshopper\/cricket\/katydid order Orthoptera, are also called Sword-tailed crickets and Winged bush crickets. They\u2019re crickets, but they\u2019re not in the same family as the common, black field crickets of fall (family Gryllidae). The BugLady still wants to see a trig \u2013 these pictures were taken by BugFan Dave, who\u2019s finding some very cool things as he rehabilitates his property with native plantings (and he\u2019s having fun and photographing the heck out of it, too!). Thanks, Dave!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trigs are smallish crickets that live in leafy spots in grasslands, edges, wetlands, and woods east of the Rockies, usually close to the ground. There are 19 species of trigs in North America, and they come in brown, green, and Handsome\/Red-headed Phyllopalpus pulchellus – BugGuide.Net<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAY\u2019S TRIG (Anaxipha exigua<\/em>) (Anaxipha<\/em> means \u201cupraised sword\u201d), in the brown trig genus Anaxipha<\/em>, lives in the lower levels of the vegetation in the northeast quadrant of the continent.<\/em> Along with wetlands and grassy areas, it likes honey locust trees (and, apparently, Dave\u2019s house). Adults and nymphs Cricket, calico – Anaxipha exigua – BugGuide.Net<\/a>e<\/a> are seen from mid-summer on, disappearing as fall progresses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one of the larger trigs, with males measuring about \u00bc\u201d long, and females a shade longer, both with a lovely, stripey head. Dave\u2019s trig was a male, with two unsegmented, sensory appendages called cerci (singular: cercus) at its rear. Females have two cerci plus an upcurved ovipositor (hence the name \u201csword-bearing cricket\u201d) Little Pale Cricket – Anaxipha exigua – BugGuide.Net<\/a>. Most trigs have short wings, but some are macropterous (have longer wings) Say’s Trig – Anaxipha exigua – BugGuide.Net<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Close-up<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like other trigs, the Say\u2019s Trig is an omnivore, feeding on vegetation, insect eggs, and small, soft-bodied insects. They are fed upon by birds and other critters that prey on insects. The BugLady is always startled to be reminded that omnivory is not uncommon in the grasshopper\/cricket bunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have the ability to climb up the sides of collecting jars like a spider – but not like your average cricket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Males make sound by stridulation – rubbing bumps\/pegs (the file) on the forewing against a sharp edge (the blade) on the hind wing. In fact, one way to ID Say\u2019s trigs is by counting the number of bumps\/pegs on the file (Say\u2019s trigs\u2019 files have about 190 teeth). If you\u2019re going to make noise, you need to hear it, too, and they have hearing organs (tympanums) on their front legs that allow them to detect vibrations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They sing continuously and may sing day or night. The song is a trill Minnesota Seasons – Say\u2019s trig<\/a> (scroll down), that\u2019s described as \u201chigh and shimmering,\u201d \u201c a continuous, fast tinkle,\u201d \u201cpulsing at 35 \u2013 40 per second,\u201d \u201cvery loud for such a small insect,\u201d and \u201ccan be heard from one hundred or more feet away.\u201d The BugLady usually has to turn the volume way up and cup her hands behind her ears to hear some of the crickets and katydids on recordings, but she can hear this one. In lower temperatures, the song is slower, and in warmer weather, the song may be higher-pitched. Nearby tree crickets (from yet another cricket family) sing at a lower pitch. Males like to perch above the ground when they sing, concealed by a leaf, so they\u2019re impossible to spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nota Bene: remember that trigs exist deep in the vegetation, where the shelter of leaves creates a \u201cmicroclimate\u201d in which light and sound levels, humidity and precipitation, temperature, and wind speeds may differ from areas just a few feet away (the concept of microclimates is oh-so-important to the understanding of ecology). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trigs \u2013 Very cool!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BugLady<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

Bug<\/a>, <\/span>Crickets<\/a>, <\/span>Grassland insects<\/a>, <\/span>Trig<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Howdy, BugFans, The BugLady has always wanted to see a trig, because – what an interesting name for an insect (a name, it turns out, that\u2019s a shortened version of its family, Trigonidiidae). Trigs, members of the grasshopper\/cricket\/katydid order Orthoptera, are …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38860,"featured_media":16545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[8],"tags":[909,276,959,960],"class_list":["post-16541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bug-of-the-week","tag-bug","tag-crickets","tag-grassland-insects","tag-trig"],"yoast_head":"\nField Station<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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