Bug FAQItalian Tree Cricket
Oecanthus pellucens · Order: Orthoptera · Family: Gryllidae
Also called: European Tree-cricket, Tree Cricket
The Italian tree cricket is a slender, yellow-brown insect about 1 cm long, with males slightly smaller than females. It lives in sunny, dry meadows, grasslands, sand dunes and similar open habitats across most of southern Europe and is heard singing from July to October.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Its body is long, thin and colored a straw-like yellowish brown.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adult males measure about 10 to 13 mm, while females are a bit larger at 11 to 14 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It prefers sunny, dry, nutrient-poor places such as meadows with tall vegetation, sand dunes and brownfield sites.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It eats both plant material like leaves, pollen and petals and small animals such as aphids, spiders and insect larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
In June the young live inside plant tissues and leaves. A few days after their final molt, males start to produce their song.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are present from July through October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species occurs throughout most of Europe, especially around the Mediterranean and in southern countries.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
In southern Europe it can be confused with the very similar Oecanthus dulcisonans.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 4 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Connecticut.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When can I expect to hear Italian tree crickets?
Males begin singing a few days after their last molt, and adults are heard from July to October.
Source: Wikipedia
What do Italian tree crickets eat?
They feed on leaves, pollen, petals and also on small insects such as aphids, spiders and larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are Italian tree crickets found?
They live in sunny, dry meadows, grasslands, sand dunes and similar habitats across most of southern Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Gryllidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oecanthus_pellucens
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.