Teleogryllus commodus
Silhouette: Thomas Hegna · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Teleogryllus commodus, commonly known as the black field cricket, is a cricket species native to Australia. They are significant pests to most plants in Australia and New Zealand. T. commodus belongs to the order Orthoptera, the family Gryllidae which are characterized by wings that are folded on the side of the body, chewing mouthparts and long, thin antennae. T. commodus has the ability to learn via the recognition of rewards. They are also capable of odour recognition and thus can be taught via odour pairing.
T. commodus can grow up to 30 mm long, with long antennas and legs adapted for jumping. Their coloration is usually black or brown. Nymphs can be recognized by a white stripe on the abdomen. Adult females are characterized by ovipositors which are long structures used for laying eggs. In contrast, males have modified veins in forewings with hard pegs that play a role in song production. Another fact about black field crickets is that their tegmina (leathery forewing) is asymmetrical.
T. commodus undergo hemimetabolous (the lack of pupal stage from larva to adult) development with 3 main stages: egg, nymph (multiple stages~8), and adulthood Females age faster... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abel Tasman National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Egmont National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 3 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Black Field Cricket sighting in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 554th most-seen of the 789 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–April and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Black Field Cricket in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January and May–November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Australian Black Field Cricket sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Australian Black Field Cricket sightings, Blue Mountains National Park ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Abel Tasman National Park (New Zealand, about 10%), Egmont National Park (New Zealand, about 10%) and Great Otway National Park (Australia, about 10%).
Same order: Orthoptera
The closest relatives of the Australian Black Field Cricket that you can see in Blue Mountains National Park (order Orthoptera, Grasshoppers, Crickets, and Katydids) are Olive-Green Coastal Katydid (about 10%), Giant Green Slantface (about 10%) and Blackish Meadow Katydid (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Australian Black Field Cricket is recorded against all the insects logged in Blue Mountains National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
