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Description of Tree Crickets as described by Blatchley in 1920: Slender bodied crickets of a pale color having the head elongate, horizontal or nearly so; vertex declivent, passing gradually into the face; eyes large, ovate lying obliquely behind the basal joint of antennae; ocelli absent; antennae more than twice as long as body, filiform, the two basal joints usually ornamented with black markings; pronotum longer than broad, somewhat narrowed in front; lower margins of lateral lobes with front and hind angles rounded; tegmina of males rather firm, rigid, semi-transparent, flat, much wider than the abdomen, their tips broadly rounded; of females narrow, membranous, wrapped closely about the body; wings usually longer than tegmina; legs very slender; fore and middle tibia unarmed, the former dilated near base and furnished each side with a large elongate-oval tympanum; all the femora unarmed beneath, the hind ones very slender; hind tibiae usually armed above on each margin with a row of very numerous minute teeth and three to six longer spines, also with three pairs of subapical spurs; tarsi three-jointed, the basal joint longer than the others united. Subgenital plate of male scoop-shaped, its apex rounded. Ovipositor straight, shorter than hind femora, the tips of inner valves wedge-shaped, of outer ones armed with four short, rather blunt curved teeth. The article written by W. S. Blatchley in 1920: " Orthoptera of northeastern America", Indianapolis, IN: Nature Publishing. (pp. 709-727) [1557 KB]. can be accessed at http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/s576lb20.pdf METAMORPHOSIS: Tree Crickets undergo a paurometabolous development (Gradual Metamorphosis). Nymphs resemble small adults and gradually develop external wing buds. They live in the same habitat as adults, typically eating the same food. They have five stages before having a final molting of their exoskeleton and becoming a full adult with fully developed wings.
Overall Color
TEETH Check out the remarkable photos of tree cricket teeth on BugGuide at: http://bugguide.net/node/view/277234 HEAD ANTENNAE EYES PRONOTUM ABDOMEN
LIMBS CLAWS WINGS
METANOTAL GLAND
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This little tree cricket nymph is only 10 minutes old. Note the swelling on the top of the head. In human terms, this would be called a caput succedaneum - which is caused by the force of the top of the head pushing through the birth canal. This makes sense for these tiny nymphs since they need to push through a small hole in a firm, dry or woody stem-- and emerge head first.
Tree Crickets vary from species to species, and some vary within a single species. This pair are both Black-horned Tree Crickets. The female is golden toned, while the male is striking black with green wings. Another pair of Black-horned Tree Crickets might be a black female and golden male, or both sexes might be black. Some Black-horned Tree Crickets are even mostly green--with black antennae and partially black limbs.
The Snowy Tree Cricket is all light green, with a touch of orange on the top of the head. It's wings are beautifully transparent.
This female Forbes' tree cricket is a bright green color and her head is yellow.
The pine tree cricket has a rusty brown head, pronotum, distal limbs and abdomen.
The Two-spotted Tree Cricket is pale with pinkish-brown head, pronotum and abdomen.
EARS -- the tympanic membranes are located on the forearms
This male Narrow-winged tree cricket is ready to undergo a final molt. Note the engorged appearance of the wings within the 'sacs' of the exoskeleton.
This view shows how thickened the wings are within the sacs. It is an amazing transformation from no wings - to flattened tiny wings - to these overstuffed wing sacs. 
This tree cricket has not yet completely freed herself from the exoskeleton. The compacted hindwings are still in the shape of the sacs they were contained in. The forewings, or tegmina, are already beginning to loosen up.
This male Two-spotted Tree Cricket has just emerged from his exoskeleton. His wings are still in the process of unfurling, and once dry, they will be flat, stiff and transparent.
These are the opened wings of a male Black-horned tree cricket. They move very rapidly during active singing -- producing a trilling sound. Near the center, you can see thickening. On the right wing is a thickened section of membranous tissue called the file. On the left wing is a section called the scraper. As the wings move rapidly back and forth - out then in, out then in - these two parts rub against each other and produce the beautiful trilling sound heard in summer and early autumn.
This male Snowy tree cricket is singing from the leaf on a geranium plant. You can see the rusty-colored metanotal gland.
