Common Trig (Trigonidium cicindeloides)

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.)
.
.
.

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