| Latin Name | Observation Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Trigonidium cicindeloides | May 25, 2026 | Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh |
Nature sometimes plays a great game of hide and seek with our eyes. Today I am sharing with you a macro photo of an insect taken from a grass field in my village, which can fool anyone at first glance.
When I saw this insect sitting on a leaf, I thought it might be a common beetle, given its black shiny back. But when I looked closely, its true identity came out. It is not a beetle at all, but a type of cricket, which has taken the form of a beetle to escape from predators.
Let's learn some scientific facts about this great camouflaged insect:
Common name:
Common Trig or Pygmy Bush Cricket.
Scientific name:
Trigonidium cicindeloides
Family:
Trigonidiidae (Sword-tailed cricket or cricket family).
Size and Mimicry:
This is a very small insect. Its most notable feature is the dark blue-black hard covering on its back, which looks exactly like a beetle. But its thick reddish-orange legs and slender proboscis, which are longer than its body, prove that it is actually a jumping cricket.
Habitat:
They mainly like to live in damp environments around ponds or water bodies, on short grass and low shrub leaves.
Calling Song:
As adult crickets, they have a wonderful nature. Like other crickets, they also make a kind of sound or 'song' by rubbing their wings, with which they mainly attract a partner.
Diet:
They usually survive by eating soft leaves of trees, rotten vines and occasionally other small insects and spiders in the garden.
Its role in nature:
Although it looks a bit tough, it does not cause any damage to crops, so it is not considered harmful in agriculture. Rather, it helps to maintain the ecosystem of the garden as a natural food for frogs, lizards and birds.
Have you ever seen a singing cricket disguised as a dung beetle? Be sure to share your opinion in the comments.
I learned about them from various sites including iNaturalist, Wikipedia and Google.
(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.)
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| Camera Used | Samsung SM-G973F |
|---|---|
| F-Stop | F2.4 |
| ISO speed | ISO |
| Focal length | 26mm |
| Flash | No |
| Editing app | MIX |
| Photography | Common Trig (Trigonidium cicindeloides) |
| Photographer |  @mshbd |
| Location | Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh |
| Link to original community |
|---|
| https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/365757258 |
| Latitude | Longitude | Map Link |
|---|---|---|
| 24.3366 | 89.1127 | https://www.openstreetmap.org/?#map=12/24.3366/89.1127 |