Entoma
Cardiodactylus guttulus, Cardiodactylus guttulus, plate

True crickets

Cardiodactylus guttulus

This tree cricket calls by day as well as after dark, with dozens sometimes packed onto a single trunk, producing a sound compared to scissors trimming hair.

WhereSubtropical island forests, on tree trunks
Size36 to 42 mm body length
WhenJune to December

This is a fairly large, forest dwelling cricket with tea brown forewings marked by conspicuous yellow spots; males carry bolder, more numerous markings than the plainer females, which are told apart by a long ovipositor at the tip of the abdomen.

Adults gather in numbers on the trunks of forest trees, calling both during the day and at night, with song most active after dark. Nymphs hatch in early spring and shelter in leaf litter before climbing onto trunks as they mature.

Traits

Habitat

Woodland

Colour

Brown, Yellow

Active

Day and night

To people

Calls from tree trunks after dark; harmless to people.

Activity through the year

Often confused with

Japanese green cricketnot in guide
Truljalia hibinonis

Japanese green cricket is bright green and considerably smaller at about 20 to 25 mm long, against this species' tea brown, yellow spotted body of 36 to 42 mm.

Questions

Is Cardiodactylus guttulus dangerous to people?

Calls from tree trunks after dark; harmless to people.

When can you see Cardiodactylus guttulus?

Cardiodactylus guttulus can be seen from June to December, by day and at night.

Plate retouched from a museum specimen photo by Laure Desutter-Grandcolas, MNHN - Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, CC BY 4.0, GBIF Licence

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Crickets and grasshoppers›True crickets›Cardiodactylus

Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.