New Crickets and Metaleptea brevicornis in Ontario
Over the past two years, two new crickets have been added to the provincial fauna based on observations on iNaturalist, including several from members of this group. Check out Phyllopalpus pulchellus and Hapithus saltator in the species list to see where they are being found. These observations are going to be included in a small note in the Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario in the near future.
Note that the record for Metaleptea is considered as a likely misrepresented metadata. The observer did not respond to requests about the information and most of their observations are localized in the southern US, where this species is expected and known to occur.
PREVIOUS VERION: Also exciting, is the recent observation of Metaleptea brevicornis, a fairly distinctive species. This species has only been found previously in extreme southwestern Ontario many years ago, so it was with great excitement that it was recently located in the Port Maitland area. Check out https://inaturalist.ca/observations/31120345 for the recent observation. For those of you along the shores of Lake Erie, keep your eyes open for it.
