Camel Cricket

Just for fun, I decided to snap a few photos of one of the MANY crickets that come out in our yard at night. There's usually a veritable chorus of them, and there seems to be multiple species. The biggest I've seen is a camel cricket. Now, there are several species of camel crickets, but none of them have wings or chirp like other crickets, and they're all notable for their humpbacked shape. I'm pretty sure that this cricket is of the common species, Diestrammena (Tachycines) asynamorus, or Greenhouse Camel Crickets.

You can see here the lack of wings and the curved back, somewhat resembling a camel's hump.  It has two thin legs on either side, but then one large leg for jumping, like a grasshopper's. These legs are very powerful. Also, between the (cerci?) you'll see an ovipositor, indicating that this cricket is female. (In the background to the left, a slug makes a cameo appearance). 

Look how incredibly long those antennae are! I assume they use those  to sense their environment, navigate and find food, etc.

A head-on shot. The antennae look like overgrown eyebrows.

You can find some good info at http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Urban/camelcrickets.htm (North Carolina). Here's a close-up photo Ben Young took of a camel cricket's head:

Like other nocturnal creatures, a cricket doesn't rely on sight. Instead it uses the sensory mechanisms all over its body to "feel" its environment. However, it does have a compound eye, which is more advanced than that possessed by other animals. 

A great website to reference for insect morphology is http://www.entomology.umn.edu/cues/4015/morpology/. It addresses eyes, antennae and legs, among other things. You can use it not only for this cricket, but also for the Gulf Fritillary I posted earlier, and for other insects I may show later on.