2-20 This morning I found a cricket atop the snow, frozen. As it was wingless I knew that it was not an adult. Crickets moult through as many as 8 -10 wingless instars before reaching winged maturity.
However, there are many species of "ground" and "field" crickets and precise identification requires a lot of esoteric knowledge. I didn't expect to be able to precisely identify this specimen, but it seemed determined to be properly named: as soon as I brought it into the house it revived! Many crickets at this latitude overwinter only as eggs. Adults and nymphs are killed by cold. Overwintering as a nymph is noteworthy. Freezing solid and then reviving is both a good trick and a possible clue.
It seems that there are 2 distinct species of the common black field cricket. One species overwinters as eggs in the soil. That species - responsible for the late summer chorus - is active in summer and fall. The other possibly overlooked species overwinters in a nymphal stage and is active in the spring and early summer. These two cricket species are physically identical! They behave identically! They sing identically! Only the appearance separates the two species.
So, my guess is that the frozen cricket nymph I found on the snow is the spring species of common field cricket. It looks like a black field cricket and it survived freezing as a nymph. So …
Now the only question I have is how did it end up atop the late Feb. snow pack?
John