Oecanthus fultoni

9.9

A small pale yellow cricket that lives in trees across North America and sings at night

noun

Specialized

: Oecanthus fultoni

The sweet, continuous song of the Oecanthus fultoni can be heard on warm summer nights.

Examples

Many gardeners welcome Oecanthus fultoni because it helps control small pest populations.
Entomologists often study the Oecanthus fultoni for insights into insect communication.
The Oecanthus fultoni is commonly found in gardens.
Have you ever seen an Oecanthus fultoni in the wild?
The sweet, continuous song of the Oecanthus fultoni can be heard on warm summer nights.
Many gardeners welcome Oecanthus fultoni because it helps control small pest populations.
Entomologists often study the Oecanthus fultoni for insights into insect communication.

Synonyms

tree cricket

vsOecanthus fultoni

1 8.2

A small pale insect that lives in trees and makes loud high sounds

is specific to pale appearance and wide range rather than loud song

snowy tree cricket

vsOecanthus fultoni

7.8

A small pale yellow insect that lives on trees and makes a soft high sound

is described by pale colour and wide distribution rather than song

Surface Forms

Oecanthus fultoni singular

Oecanthus fultonis plural

Morphology

Oecanthus + fultoni

This is a Latin binomial: the genus 'Oecanthus' denotes a tree cricket, so a learner who knows that word can infer the MWE refers to a particular kind of cricket. However, 'fultoni' is a species epithet (likely an eponym) with no lexical meaning, so specific properties (pale yellowish color, native distribution) are not derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Oecanthus fultoni is the scientific name for a pale yellow tree cricket often called the 'snowy tree cricket'. Its steady, sweet song on warm nights sounds like a soft ticking, so people used to count chirps as a simple 'thermometer' to guess the temperature, and that strong image makes the name easy to remember.