Nancy Collins

Joined: Feb 8, 2018 Last Active: Oct 6, 2024 iNaturalist

I no longer attempt to put statements in every identification I suggest. The most important comment for tree crickets: WE NEED A GOOD VIEW OF THE FRONT OF THE 1ST AND 2ND ANTENNAL SEGMENTS TO TRY TO ID TO SPECIES.

Also, I do not add ID's for any submissions without a general location, and I do not review European submissions.

RECORDINGS: I am NOT a sound expert. I am going to pull back from trying to move to species from now on unless folks have a good recording AND a temperature. I have been reminded by several experts that: 1) not all devices used for recordings match the calibration of devices used to make our current song rate/frequency graphs; 2) there can be variant males that produce rate/frequency that does not fall on the trendlines of graphs; and 3) it really, really helps to have an accurate air temperature of the spot where the male was perched while singing. NOTE: Recordings is not one of my favorite things to do - they involve more steps in analyzing them. Therefore, I am apt to pass over recordings (which I can do cuz I'm just volunteering my time) :)

I have been reviewing tree cricket submissions for over 5 years, and I am tired of trying to teach iNat AI not to suggest Narrow-winged for every tree cricket it can't figure out. Now, If I can't tell from the photo if it is Narrow-winged, Snowy or Davis', rather than push it back to genus, I'm just clicking on Reviewed.

My website is www.oecanthinae.com
I made daily entries on a tree cricket blog in 2023.

Key to Tree Crickets encountered in the U.S. https://www.wisentsoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Key-for-Tree-Crickets-encountered-in-US-2020.pdf

I am a citizen scientist, actually tree cricket specialist might be a better description.

I am active on BugGuide.net under Wisconsin Oecanthinancy. I have contributed data and photos to the Singing Insects of North America website. I have been working on adding data available on the Orthoptera Species File section for Oecanthinae.

My mentor is Dr. Thomas J. Walker, Professor Emeritus, University of Florida-Gainesville.

I am a member of the Wisconsin Entomological Society and the Orthopterists Society.

I became enamored by a singing male Two-legged Tree Cricket in 2006, and have been obsessed with tree crickets ever since. I have co-authored eight description papers for Oecanthines, and have co-described eleven new species (3 in the U.S., 3 in Mexico, and 5 in Nicaragua).

I have written two books: Trixie the Tree Cricket http://www.lulu.com/shop/nancy-collins/trixie-the-tree-cricket/ebook/product-17381866.html and All About Tree Crickets https://www.amazon.com/about-Tree-Crickets-Nancy-Collins/dp/147870134X

My mission is to increase awareness of these small delicate insects that are often heard but seldom known. If not in your own yard, if you've heard trilling or chirping in the background of a movie or TV show, set in a warm summer night, chances are you've heard a tree cricket.

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