The magpie-lark (also known as wee magpie) was originally described by the English ornithologist John Latham in the genus Corvus in 1801 (as Corvus cyanoleucus). Its species name is derived from the Ancient Greek words cyanos "dark blue" and leukos "white" despite the black and white plumage. However, there can be a bluish sheen to the black back. In the same publication, Latham described the same species as Gracula picata. In 1843, Hugh Edwin Strickland proposed using the second name as it was the more accurate, resulting in Grallina picata. Formerly, some authorities have classified the magpie-lark as belonging to a genus of bee-eaters, Merops.
Latham gave the species the common names of blue and white crow and pied grackle, based on the scientific names. John Gould likewise called it the pied grallina in 1848, though he noted that it was called magpie-lark by the early settlers. Alternate names for the magpie-lark include the mudlark (more common in southeastern Australia) or pugwall (pug "clay"), from its nest, and peewee (more common in northeastern Australia), peewit, from its call. Unlike many species in southwestern Australia, the magpie-lark was given names by the local indigenous people that were onomatopoeic (sounding like the calls they make). Names recorded include byoolkolyedi (Perth and lowlands), dilabot (mountains and interior), and koolyibarak. Indigenous people in the Sydney region called it birrarik or birrerik.
Additional common names used regionally include Murray magpie in South Australia.
In 1977, the RAOU settled on Australian magpie-lark as the official name, noting that the names magpie lark and, less commonly, mudlark were used in guidebooks at the time.
Two subspecies are recognised:
G. c. cyanoleuca – (Latham, 1801): Found in western, central, eastern and southern Australia
G. c. neglecta – Mathews, 1912: Found in northern Australia
Long thought to be a member of the mudnest builder family Corcoracidae, the magpie-lark and the closely related torrent lark (Grallina brujini) have been reclassified in the family Monarchidae (the monarch flycatchers). The two make up a lineage that split off early from other monarchs and has no close relatives within the family.


The magpie-lark (also known as wee magpie) is of small to medium size, reaching 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) long when fully grown, or about the same size as a European common blackbird, and boldly pied in black and white; the weight range is 63.9 to 118 g (2.25 to 4.16 oz) for males, and 70 to 94.5 g (2.47 to 3.33 oz) for females. The sexes are similar from a distance but easy to tell apart: the female has a white throat, the male a black throat and a white "eyebrow". Juveniles and immatures of either sex have the white throat of the female and the black eyestripe of the male, and a white belly.


The magpie-lark is a common and very widespread bird both in urban and rural areas, occupying all parts of Australia except for Tasmania and some of the inland desert in the far north-west of Western Australia, and appears to have adapted well to the presence of humans. It is also found in southern New Guinea and on the island of Timor. In 1924 it was introduced onto Lord Howe Island which lies 600 km (370 mi) to the east of Australia in the Tasman Sea. It is now widespread on the island. The magpie-lark is a familiar sight around Australia; sitting on telephone wires either singly or in pairs, or patrolling patches of bare ground, especially foreshores or swamps.


Magpie-Larks (also known as wee magpie) A primarily carnivorous species that eats all sorts of small creatures, the magpie-lark can adapt to an enormous range of different habitats, requiring only some soft, bare ground for foraging, a supply of mud for making a nest, and a tree to make it in. It has benefited greatly from agriculture: both the clearing of dense forest in fertile zones and the provision of artesian water in arid areas—although a disaster for other species—have been a boon for bare-ground and short-grass feeders like magpies and magpie-larks.
Group gatherings of magpie-larks have been observed, with loose "flocks" comprising dozens of individuals being observed perched on vantage points. They sit near houses and on fences to mark their territory and look for mates. This behaviour can be frustrating to residents in suburban areas because of their excessive high pitch shrieks. Such behaviour is common, particularly in rural and suburban environments. This behaviour may be pairing or breeding related or simply indicate a bountiful feeding area.
The magpie-lark is aggressively territorial, and will fearlessly defend its territory against larger species such as magpies, ravens, kookaburras, and even the wedge-tailed eagle.
They are also known to attack people to defend their nesting area.
Although their attacks on people are not as aggressive as those of masked lapwings and magpies, they can still result in surprise or minor injury to the recipient.
They are also known to attack mirrors, windows and other reflective surfaces in which they mistake their reflection for an intruder into their territory.


Birds generally pair for life (though divorce is not unknown) and defend a territory together. The nest is round, about 150 mm in diameter with vertical sides and is usually placed on a flat branch somewhere near water or on a horizontal beam of a telephone pole. It is made of grass and plant material thickly plastered together with mud, and generously lined with grass, feathers and fur.  Breeding is opportunistic, usually from August to February in the fertile south, anytime after rain in drier areas, and multiple broods are common when conditions allow. Both parents incubate a clutch of between three and five eggs. Incubation of eggs takes up to eighteen days, and the young birds fledge about three weeks after hatching. It is quite common for only some of the chicks to survive because sometimes the nest is not big enough for all of the baby birds, therefore one baby will sometimes push another out of the nest and it is most likely that the chick will not survive the fall.
With climate change, Australia is seeing warmer summer temperatures and milder winters. Mud Larks are breeding for longer cycles during the year as a result.


Graphium agamemnon, the tailed jay, is a predominantly green and black tropical butterfly that belongs to the swallowtail family. The butterfly is also called the green-spotted triangle, tailed green jay, or green triangle. It is a common, non-threatened species native to Nepal, India, Sri Lanka through Southeast Asia and Australia. Several geographic races are recognized. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.


Southern India to Saurashtra, northern India (Kumaon to Assam), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Andamans, Nicobars, Bangladesh, Brunei, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, southern China (including Hainan), Taiwan, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), South East Asia to New Guinea, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, and Australia (northern Queensland).


Male upperside black. Forewing with the following green markings: a spot at the extreme base of the costal margin, a transverse short bar near base of cell and seven spots beyond, two and two except the apical spot which is single; two spots beyond apex of cell; a spot at base of interspaces 1a and 1, followed by two oblique short macular bands; a discal series of spots decreasing in size towards the costa, and a postdiscal series of smaller spots that begins with two in interspace 1; the spots in interspace 7 in both series are out of line, placed outwards. Hindwing: three series of similarly-coloured markings that ran transversely across the wing more or less parallel to the dorsal margin, the upper markings (those in interspace 7) white; a short greenish stripe at the extreme base of the wing.
Underside: fuliginous (sooty) brown or brownish black, more or less suffused with pink along the costal margin, on apical area and along the outer margin of the discal markings on the forewing, broadly along the dorsal and terminal margins and at base on interspaces 6 and 7 on the hindwing; markings similar to those on the upperside but less clearly defined and somewhat more grey in tint. Hindwing black, inwardly red-margined spots superposed on the pink area in interspaces 6 and 7. Cilia very narrow, pale pink. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen black, thorax above and the abdomen on the sides streaked with greenish grey; beneath: ochreous grey touched on the thorax with pink.
Females are similar, but with a streak of greenish white along the dorsal margin on both upper and undersides.
Race decoratus is found in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and is very similar to the typical form, from which it can be distinguished as follows: Upperside green spots smaller, especially the discal series on the forewing. Underside hindwing: the red postcostal spot is relatively small but the red part has much increased against the black part; besides the large red anal mark and the mark before the first disco-cellular veinlet, there is a large red spot in the lower median cellule (interspace 2), a smaller red spot in each of the three preceding cellules (interspaces 3, 4, 5) and a streak-like spot at the base of the lower median cellule.


Graphium agamemnon is common and not threatened.


Once found primarily close to wooded country where there is a fairly heavy rainfall, the tailed jay is now very common at low elevations and regularly seen in gardens and urban areas due to its food plant, Polyalthia longifolia (false ashoka or mast tree), being widely used as an ornamental tree.


Strong and restless fliers, they are very active butterflies and flutter their wings constantly even when at flowers. They are seldom seen drinking from damp patches. The males are particularly fond of nectaring from flowers such as Lantana, Ixora, Mussaenda, and Poinsettia. The females are more likely caught when looking for food plants or laying eggs.
Tailed jays are active throughout the year but their abundance depends upon the local monsoon and availability of the larval host plants. The butterflies generally fly among the tree-tops but descend to ground level in search of flowers or host plants. Because of their relatively fast life cycle (just over one month from egg to adult), tailed jays are multivoltine and may produce up to seven or eight broods per year.
It has been noted in one instance to be attracted to lights at night.


This species can take from 33–36 days from egg to adult. The species is multivoltine with at least seven or eight broods in a year.


The eggs are pale yellow and are laid singly on the underside of young leaves, and hatch after three or four days.


Young larvae are dark yellowish green with a pale yellow band in the middle of the abdomen. From the head, which is moderately large, the body increases in thickness rapidly to the 4th or 5th segment and then tapers gradually down to the tail. It has four pairs of spines. The color is at first smoky black, but at the last molt becomes a light clear green faintly marked with lines of a darker shade. The fully grown larva is green, fusiform and having small black spots. It has a pair of osmeterium and black spines on each thoracic segment, the third pair being orange yellow. A fourth pair is situated on the last segment. The spines are usually black with orange rings at the base of each spine. The caterpillars undergo five instars over a period of 15–16 days, during which many are attacked by parasitoid wasps.


The pupae are green or brownish. They are found attached on the underside of leaves; sometimes on the upperside, and are held in place with a body girdle. The pupal stage lasts for 13–14 days. The horns are tipped with rusty brown.


Polyalthia longifolia, Polyalthia cerasoides, Annona squamosa, Annona reticulata, Annona discolor, Annona muricata, Goniothalamus cardiopetalus, Mitrephora heyneana and Uvaria narum of the family Annonaceae, Michelia doltospa, Michelia champaca, Milliusa tomentosum, Cinnamomum spp., and Artabotrys hexapetalus.


Graphium doson, the common jay, is a black, tropical papilionid (swallowtail) butterfly with pale blue semi-transparent central wing bands that are formed by large spots. There is a marginal series of smaller spots. The underside of wings is brown with markings similar to upperside but whitish in colour. The sexes look alike. The species was first described by father and son entomologists Cajetan and Rudolf Felder.


It is widespread and common throughout Southeast Asia, including lower elevations in Sri Lanka and southern India, Eastern Ghats, Satpuras, Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh, and the Himalayan foothills. The species is however scarce in southern Honshū, Japan.


It is common in thick, riparian, moist, deciduous, semi-evergreen and evergreen forests.


The common jay is active throughout the day and constantly on the move; it rarely settles down. Its flight is swift and straight. When feeding from flowers, it never settles down and keeps its wings vibrating. The males are seen mud-puddling, often in tight groups.


The spherical and pale yellow eggs are laid singly on the underside of leaves.


The caterpillar is somewhat spindle shaped. The grown caterpillars have two forms, dark brown or grassy green. There are spines on the fourth segment which are short, conical and blue centred surrounded by lemon yellow and then black rings. The osmeterium is pale bluish green. It is extruded only reluctantly.


The pupa is pale green with a dark purplish median line from the head to the thoracic horn and a yellow line from the tip of the horn to the cremaster.


The caterpillars feed on plants of the families Annonaceae, Lauraceae and Magnoliaceae such as Annona lawii, Annona muricata, Cinnamomum macrocarpum, Cinnamomum malabatrum, Magnolia grandiflora, Magnolia liliifera, Magnolia oblonga, Hunteria zeylanica, Michelia champaca, Trachelospermum asiaticum and Polyalthia longifolia.


Graphocephala atropunctata, commonly known as the blue-green sharpshooter, is a hemipteran bug endemic to California. It carries the phytopathogenic bacteria Xylella fastidiosa which infects the xylem of grape vines causing die-back – known as Pierce's disease. This leads to loss of productivity and economic damage to the California vineyards. Although the bacterium and its damage to grapes had been known in the state since at least 1900, this new vector insect was unknown here until 1997. Suddenly this much more effective vector greatly increased the impact of X. f. and by 1999 Southern California alone was suffering losses of over US $6 million.


Graphocephala coccinea is a meadow and woodland-dwelling species of brightly colored leafhopper native to North and Central America, from Canada south to Panama. Common names include candy-striped leafhopper, red-banded leafhopper, scarlet-and-green leafhopper and red-and-blue leafhopper.
Adults measure 6.7–8.4 mm in length and have vivid blue (or green) and red (or orange-red) stripes on their wings and the top of their thorax combined with bright yellow coloration on their head, legs, abdomen, and elsewhere.
Leafhoppers feed on plant sap with the aid of specialized mouthparts.


Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata, the large brown cicada, is a species of cicada in the genus Graptopsaltria of the family Cicadidae found across East Asia, including Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and China. They are called aburazemi (アブラゼミ) in Japanese. The males make a loud chirping that ends with a click caused by a flick of the wings.


Large brown cicadae are usually about 55–60 millimetres (2.2–2.4 in) long, having a wingspan of roughly 75 mm (3.0 in).


Grimmia pulvinata, otherwise known as grey-cushioned grimmia or pulvinate dry rock moss, is a bryophyte moss common in temperate climates worldwide.


Grimmia pulvinata grows in small cushion-like shaped, around 1-2 centimeters tall. Its color ranges from a grey-green to an orange-yellow. Its leaves are lanceolate, being broad and oval shaped at the base and very narrow toward the tip. They may show a silvery hue near the tip in some specimens. Its capsules are oval shaped, and bend back into the leaves when the plant is dry, and stand out when it is moist.


Grimmia pulvinata colonizes a variety of surfaces including rocks, concrete, and tree trunks. It is tolerant of a wide range of PH levels on surfaces, allowing it to live on many types of rock.
However, it prefers surfaces such as old mortar and tree trunks.


Grimmia pulvinata is the most common species in the genus Grimmia, with a nearly worldwide distribution. It is particularly common in Britain and the west coast of North America. It primarily lives in temperate regions, from sea level to elevations up to 9800 feet.


Grimmia pulvinata is a pioneer species, meaning it is among the first organisms to colonize habitat which has been disturbed by an event such as a forest fire. In addition, its resistance to pollution allows it to colonize urban areas such as roofs, walls, and tarmac.


Grindelia squarrosa, also known as a curly-top gumweed or curlycup gumweed, is a small North American biennial or short-lived perennial plant.


G. squarrosa is a decumbent to erect, much-branched perennial herb or subshrub growing up to 100 centimetres (39+1⁄2 inches) tall. The leaves are 1.5–7.5 cm (1⁄2–3 in) long, gray-green, crenate with each tooth having a yellow bump near its tip, and resinous.
The plant produces numerous flower heads in open, branching arrays. Each head usually contains 12–40 yellow ray flowers, though sometimes the rays are absent. These surround many small disc flowers. The plant blooms from July through late September. The brown seed is usually four-angled, with loose scales.


The species is native to western and central North America, from British Columbia east to Québec and New England, and south as far as California, New Mexico, Arizona, Chihuahua, and Texas. The species may possibly be naturalized in much of the eastern part of that distribution.
It is often found in dry, open areas and disturbed roadsides and streamsides, occurring between 700 metres (2,300 feet) and 2,300 metres (7,500 feet) in elevation.


The species is listed by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network as of "Special Value to Native Bees."


The plant concentrates selenium from the soil, and can be toxic when ingested by cattle, humans, and other mammals.


The flowers and leaves are used by Great Plains Tribes as a medicinal herb to treat illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis or skin rashes. The powdered flowers were also once smoked in cigarettes to ease asthmatic symptoms.
It is used as a traditional medicinal plant by Shoshone peoples in various regions. The Gosiute language name for the plant is mu’-ha-kûm. The Lakota language name for the plant is pteíčhiyuȟa.
Hispanos of New Mexico boiled the buds to make a drink to treat kidney disorders. Extracts have been made to treat skin irritations, asthma, and rheumatism. The resin has been used to treat poison ivy rashes topically.
The plant is being explored as a potential source of biofuel due to its high content of mono- and di-terpenes which can be converted to a fuel analogous to kerosene or jet fuel. The plant's adaptation to arid climates makes it an attractive option as its cultivation in desert areas would not compete with traditional food crops.


Grindelia stricta is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Oregon gumplant, Oregon gumweed and (in Britain and Ireland) coastal gumplant. It is native to the west coast of North America from California to Alaska, where it is a resident of coastal plant communities such as those in marshes and beaches. This plant is variable in appearance, taking the form of a weedlike perennial herb forming low clumps to a sprawling subshrub growing erect to heights exceeding one meter. Its foliage and stems are green to rusty red or purplish and the plant may be hairy to hairless. The fleshy leaves are green, often with red edges and veining, and are up to 15 centimeters in length on large plants. The inflorescence holds one or more flower heads each up to 5 centimeters wide. The flower head is a cup of thick erect or recurved green phyllaries. Yellow disc florets fill the center of the flower head and there is a fringe of yellow ray florets around the circumference. The head produces copious amounts of white latex, especially in the early stages of blooming.


The whooping crane (Grus americana) is the tallest North American bird, named for its whooping sound. It is an endangered crane species. Along with the sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis), it is one of only two crane species native to North America. The whooping crane's lifespan is estimated to be 22 to 24 years in the wild. After being pushed to the brink of extinction by unregulated hunting and loss of habitat to just 21 wild and two captive whooping cranes by 1941, conservation efforts have led to a limited recovery.  The total number of cranes in the surviving migratory population, plus three reintroduced flocks and in captivity, now exceeds 800 birds.


An adult whooping crane is white with a red crown and a long, dark, pointed bill. However, immature whooping cranes are cinnamon brown. While in flight, their long necks are kept straight and their long dark legs trail behind. Adult whooping cranes' black wing tips are visible during flight.
On average, the whooping crane is the fifth largest extant species of crane in the world. Whooping cranes are the tallest bird native to North America, and are anywhere from the third to the fifth heaviest species on the continent, depending on which figures are used. The species can reportedly stand anywhere from 1.24 to 1.6 m (4 ft 1 in to 5 ft 3 in) in height. Wingspan, at least typically, is from 2 to 2.3 m (6 ft 7 in to 7 ft 7 in). Widely reported averages put males at a mean mass of 7.3 kg (16 lb), while females weigh 6.2 kg (14 lb) on average (Erickson, 1976). However, one small sample of unsexed whooping cranes weighed 5.82 kg (12.8 lb) on average. Typical weights of adults seem to be between 4.5 and 8.5 kg (9.9 and 18.7 lb). The body length, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, averages about 132 cm (4 ft 4 in). The standard linear measurements of the whooping cranes are a wing chord length of 53–63 cm (21–25 in), an exposed culmen length of 11.7–16 cm (4.6–6.3 in) and a tarsus of 26–31 cm (10–12 in). The only other very large, long-legged white birds in North America are: the great egret, which is over a foot (30 cm) shorter and one-seventh the weight of this crane; the great white heron, which is a morph of the great blue heron in Florida; and the wood stork. All three other birds are at least 30% smaller than the whooping crane. Herons and storks are also quite different in structure from the crane. Larger individuals (especially males of the larger races) of sandhill crane can overlap in size with adult whooping cranes but are obviously distinct at once for their gray rather than white color.
Their calls are loud and can carry several kilometers. They express "guard calls", apparently to warn their partner about any potential danger. The crane pair will jointly call rhythmically ("unison call") after waking in the early morning, after courtship and when defending their territory. The first unison call ever recorded in the wild was taken in the whooping cranes' wintering area of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge during December 1999.


At one time, the range for the whooping crane extended throughout midwestern North America, as well as southwards to Mexico.  By the mid-20th century, the muskeg of the taiga in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta and Northwest Territories, Canada, and the surrounding area had become the last remnant of the former nesting habitat of the Whooping Crane Summer Range. However, with the recent Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership Reintroduction Project, whooping cranes nested naturally for the first time in 100 years in the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin, United States, and these have subsequently expanded their summer range in Wisconsin and surrounding states, while reintroduced experimental non-migratory populations have nested in Florida and Louisiana.
Whooping cranes nest on the ground, usually on a raised area in a marsh. The female lays 1 or 2 eggs, usually in late-April to mid-May. The blotchy, olive-coloured eggs average 2½ inches in breadth and 4 inches in length (60 by 100 mm), and weigh about 6.7 ounces (190 g). The incubation period is 29–31 days. Both parents brood the young, although the female is more likely to directly tend to the young. Usually no more than one young bird survives in a season. The parents often feed the young for 6–8 months after birth and the terminus of the offspring-parent relationship occurs after about 1 year.
Breeding populations winter along the Gulf coast of Texas, United States, near Rockport on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and along Sunset Lake in Portland, Matagorda Island, Isla San Jose, and portions of the Lamar Peninsula and Welder Point, which is on the east side of San Antonio Bay.
The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma is a major migratory stopover for the crane population hosting over 75% of the species annually.
As many as nine whooping cranes were observed at various times on Granger Lake in Central TX in the 2011/2012 winter season. Drought conditions in 2011 exposed much of the lake bed, creating ample feeding grounds for these cranes just as they were taking their autumn migration through Texas.


Their many potential nest and brood predators include American black bear, wolverine, gray wolf, cougar, red fox, Canada lynx, bald eagle, and common raven. Golden eagles have killed some young whooping cranes and fledglings. Due to their large size, adult birds in wild have few predators. However, the bobcat has killed many captive-raised whooping cranes in Florida and Texas. In Florida, bobcats have caused the great majority of natural mortalities among whooping cranes, including several ambushed adults and the first chick documented to be born in the wild in 60 years. Adult cranes can usually deter or avoid attacks by medium-sized predators when aware of a predators presence (they are capable of repelling predators as large as wolves in a head-on attack on the breeding grounds) but the cat is a superior stealth stalker which makes them effective. As they are less experienced, juvenile cranes may be notably more vulnerable to ambushes by bobcats. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center scientists believe that this is due to an overpopulation of bobcats caused by the absence or decrease in larger predators (the endangered Florida panther and the extirpated red wolf) that formerly preyed on bobcats. At least 12 bobcats have been trapped and relocated in an attempt to save the cranes. American alligators have taken a few whooping cranes in Florida.


These birds forage while walking in shallow water or in fields, sometimes probing with their bills. They are omnivorous but tend to be more inclined to animal material than most other cranes. Only the red-crowned crane may have a more carnivorous diet among living cranes. In their Texas wintering grounds, this species feeds on various crustaceans, mollusks, fish (such as eel), small reptiles and aquatic plants. Potential foods of breeding birds in summer include frogs, small rodents, small birds, fish, aquatic insects, crayfish, clams, snails, aquatic tubers, and berries. Six studies from 1946 to 2005 have reported that blue crabs are a significant food source for whooping cranes wintering at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, constituting up to 90 percent of their energy intake in two winters; 1992–93 and 1993–94.
Waste grain, including wheat, barley, and corn, is an important food for migrating whooping cranes, but whooping cranes don't swallow gizzard stones and digest grains less efficiently than sandhill cranes.


In earlier years, whooping crane chicks had been caught and banded (in the breeding areas of Wood Buffalo National Park), which has delivered valuable insight into individual life history and behaviour of the cranes. This technique, however, has been abandoned due to imminent danger for the cranes and the people performing the catching and banding activities.
By recording guard and unison calls followed by frequency analysis of the recording, a "voiceprint" of the individual crane (and of pairs) can be generated and compared over time. This technique was developed by B. Wessling and applied in the wintering refuge in Aransas and also partially in the breeding grounds in Canada over 5 years. It delivered interesting results, i.e. that besides a certain fraction of stable pairs with strong affinity to their territories, there is a big fraction of cranes who change partners and territories. Only one of the exciting results was to identify the "Lobstick" male when he still had his band; he later lost his band and was recognized by frequency analysis of his voice and then was confirmed to be over 26 years old, and still productive.


Whooping cranes are believed to have been naturally rare, and major population declines caused by habitat destruction and overhunting led them to them become critically endangered. Even with hunting bans, illegal hunting has continued in spite of potential substantial financial penalties and possible prison time. The population went from an estimated 10,000+ birds before the settling of Europeans on the continent to 1,300-1,400 birds by 1870. By 1938 there were just 15 adults in a single migratory flock, plus about thirteen additional birds living in a non-migratory population in Louisiana, but the latter were scattered by a 1940 hurricane that killed half of them, while the survivors never again reproduced in the wild.
In the early 1960s, Robert Porter Allen, an ornithologist with the National Audubon Society, appeared as a guest challenger on the network television show To Tell The Truth, which gave the Conservation movement some opportunity to update the public on their efforts to save the whooping crane from extinction. His initial efforts focused on public education, particularly among farmers and hunters.  Beginning in 1961, the Whooping Crane Conservation Association (WCCA), was established to improve the status of the whooping cranes. This non-profit organization functioned largely by influencing federal, state and provincial political decisions and educating the general public about the critical status of the bird. The whooping crane was declared endangered in 1967.
Allen had begun an effort at captive breeding with a female crane named 'Josephine', the sole survivor of the Louisiana population, injured and taken into captivity in 1940, and two successive injured birds from the migratory population, 'Pete' and 'Crip', at the Audubon Zoo and the Aransas refuge.  Josephine and Crip produced the first whooping crane born in captivity in 1950, but this chick only lived four days, and though decades of further efforts produced more than 50 eggs before Josephine's death in 1965, only four chicks survived to adulthood and none of them bred.  At the same time, the wild population was not thriving.  In spite of the efforts of conservationists, hunting bans and educational programs, the aging wild population would gain only 10 birds in the first 25 years of monitoring, with entire years passing without a single new juvenile joining those that returned to the Texas wintering grounds.  This led to a renewed tension between those who favored efforts to preserve the wild population and others seeing a captive breeding program as the only hope for whooping crane survival, even though it must depend on individuals withdrawn from the extremely-vulnerable wild population.
Identification of the location of the summer breeding grounds of the whooping cranes at Wood Buffalo National Park in 1954 allowed more detailed study of their reproductive habits in the wild, and led to the observation that while many breeding pairs laid two eggs, rearing efforts seemed to favor a single chick, and both chicks would almost never survive to fledge. It was concluded that the removal of a single egg from a two-egg clutch should still leave a single hatchling most likely to survive, while providing an individual for captive breeding. Such removals in alternating years showed no decline in the reproductive success of the wild cranes. The withdrawn eggs were transferred to the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland, where approaches for hatching and rearing crane chicks in captivity had already been optimized using the more-numerous sandhill cranes. Initial challenges getting the resultant birds to reproduce, even using artificial insemination approaches, would give impetus to the first, unsuccessful attempt at reintroduction, by swapping whooping crane eggs into the nests of the more numerous sandhill cranes as a way to establish a backup population.
In 1976, with the wild population numbering only 60 birds and having increased at an average of only one bird per year over the past decades, ornithologist George W. Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, began working with 'Tex', a female whooping crane hatched at the San Antonio Zoo in 1967 to Crip and his new mate, the wild-captured 'Rosie', to get her to lay a fertile egg through artificial insemination. Archibald pioneered several techniques to rear cranes in captivity, including the use of crane costumes by human handlers. Archibald spent three years with Tex, acting as a male crane – walking, calling, dancing – to shift her into reproductive condition. As Archibald recounted the tale on The Tonight Show in 1982, he stunned the audience and host Johnny Carson with the sad end of the story – the death of Tex shortly after the hatching of her one and only chick, named 'Gee Whiz'. Gee Whiz was successfully raised and mated with female whooping cranes.  The techniques pioneered at Patuxent, the International Crane Foundation and a program at the Calgary Zoo would give rise to a robust multi-institutional captive breeding program that would supply the cranes used in several additional captive breeding and reintroduction programs.  A single male crane, 'Canus', rescued in 1964 as an injured wild chick and taken to Patuxent in 1966, would by the time of his 2003 death be the sire, grandsire or great-grandsire of 186 captive-bred whooping cranes. In 2017, the decision was made for the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to end its 51-year effort to breed and train whooping cranes for release, due to changing priorities and in the face of budget cuts by the Trump administration. Their flock of 75 birds was moved in 2018 to join captive breeding programs at zoos or private foundations, including the Calgary Zoo, the International Crane Foundation, the Audubon Species Survival Center in Louisiana, and other sites in Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. This relocation is expected to negatively impact the reproductive success of the captive cranes, at least in the short term, and concerns were raised over its impact on the reintroduction efforts for which the Patuxent program had been providing birds.
Meanwhile, the wild crane population began a steady increase, such that in 2007 the Canadian Wildlife Service counted 266 birds at Wood Buffalo National Park, with 73 mating pairs that produced 80 chicks, 39 of which completed the fall migration, while a United States Fish and Wildlife Service count in early 2017 estimated that 505 whooping cranes, including 49 juveniles, had arrived at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge that season.  As of 2020, there were a estimated 677 birds living in the wild, in the remnant original migratory population as well as three reintroduced populations, while 177 birds were at the time held in captivity at 17 institutions in Canada and the United States, putting the total current population at over 800.
The wild cranes winter in marshy areas along the Gulf Coast in and surrounding the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. An environmental group, The Aransas Project, has sued the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), maintaining that the agency violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to ensure adequate water supplies for the birds' range. The group attributes the deaths of nearly two dozen whooping cranes in the winter of 2008 and 2009 to inadequate flows from the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers.  In March 2013 during continuing drought conditions, a federal court ordered TCEQ to develop a habitat protection plan for the crane and to cease issuing permits for waters from the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers. A judge amended the ruling to allow TCEQ to continue issuing permits necessary to protect the public's health and safety. An appeals court eventually granted a stay in the order during the appeals process.  The Guadalupe-Blanco and San Antonio river authorities joined TCEQ in the lawsuit, warning that restricting the use of their waters would have serious effects on the cities of New Braunfels and San Marcos as well as major industrial users along the coast.  To address the potential of future crowding that may result from the increasing migratory population, in 2012 and following years, purchases of small plots of land and acquisition of conservation easements covering larger areas has led to the protection of tens of thousands of additional acres of potential coastal habitat near the Aransas reserve.  A large purchase of over 17,000 acres in 2014 was paid for with $35 million made available from the settlement over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and an additional $15 million raised by a Texas parks non-profit.
Concerns have been raised over the effects of climate change on the migratory cycle of the surviving wild population.  The cranes arrive on their nesting grounds in April and May to breed and begin their nesting. When young whooping cranes are ready to leave the nest, they depart in September and follow the migratory trail through Texas.


Several attempts have been made to establish other breeding populations outside of captivity.
The first project, carried out by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service and initiated in 1975, involved cross-fostering second eggs from the wild population in the nests of sandhill cranes to establish a second self-sustaining flock using a flyway from Idaho across Utah to New Mexico.  The 289 transplanted eggs resulted in 85 chicks that learned to migrate, but the whooping cranes failed to mate with other whooping cranes due to imprinting on their sandhill foster parents.  The project was discontinued in 1989, and no members of this population survived. The initiation of this effort and the problem of imprinting are explored in the 1976 documentary A Great White Bird.
A second effort involved the establishment of a non-migratory population near Kissimmee, Florida, by a cooperative effort led by the U.S. and Canadian Whooping Crane Recovery Team in 1993. A total of 289 captive-bred birds provided by the International Crane Foundation were released in the wild between 1993 and 2004. Though in 2003 the population had produced the first chick conceived in the wild to reintroduced cranes, a decision was made in 2005 to release no further birds into the population until problems with high mortality and poor reproductive success were resolved. Studies of the population were discontinued in 2012. The population numbered about 50 adults and 4 chicks in October 2006 but subsequently dwindled to just 14 cranes in March 2018. The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a plan to relocate the surviving Kissimmee crane population to join the newer Louisiana reintroduced non-migratory flock, and due to the lack of available mates, two Florida birds were moved to Louisiana in February 2019, including the mother of the first wild-born chick. As of 2020, there were just 9 birds remaining in the Florida population, with another relocated to Louisiana in 2021.
A third attempt has involved reintroducing the whooping crane to a new flyway established east of the Mississippi river, with its southern end just west of the Atlantic flyway. This project used isolation rearing of young whooping cranes and trained them to follow ultralight aircraft, a method of re-establishing migration routes pioneered by Bill Lishman and Joe Duff working with Canada geese. The ultralight flights were managed by a non-profit organization, Operation Migration, working with the larger Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP), which oversees all aspects of the reintroduced Eastern Migratory Population.  Subsequent to hatching, the Operation Migration cranes were taught to follow the ultralight, fledged over their future breeding territory in Wisconsin, and led by the aircraft on their first migration from Wisconsin to Florida.  Having learned the migratory route, they then returned north on their own the following spring. With the growth of this reintroduced population, WCEP also began releasing captive-reared juvenile cranes directly into the flock to learn migratory behavior from their peers, in a process referred to as Direct Autumn Release (DAR).
This reintroduction began in fall 2001 and added birds to the population in subsequent years. Two whooping crane chicks were hatched in the wild from one nest in 2006, to parents that had been part of the first ultralight-led release in 2002, and one of these survived to successfully migrate with her parents to Florida. In early February, 2007, 17 yearlings in a group of 18 were killed by the 2007 Central Florida tornadoes, with the sole survivor dying in late April an unknown cause, possibly related to the storm trauma. Two of the four DAR chicks from 2006 were also lost due to predation. In spite of this, as of May, 2011, there were 105 surviving whooping cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population (EMP), including 17 that had formed pairs, several of which are nesting and are incubating eggs.
In December 2011, the Operation Migration escort of nine cranes was interrupted by the Federal Aviation Administration due to a regulation prohibiting paid pilots of ultralight aircraft. After a month with the cranes kept in a pen, the FAA finally granted a one-time exemption to allow completion of the migration.  In January 2016, citing the near-total failure of the hand-raised and guided birds to reproduce in the wild, the Fish and Wildlife Service made a decision to discontinue the ultralight program in favor of alternatives with reduced human interaction.  In June 2018, the size of this population was estimated at 102 birds. This number had dropped to 86 birds in 2020.
Due to the vulnerability and low reproductive success of the Florida non-migratory population, a new effort was made to establish a non-migratory population in Louisiana's White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area, the home of the historical non-migratory population of whooping cranes.  This is a cooperative effort of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Geological Survey, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at LSU, and the International Crane Foundation. In March 2011, 10 cranes were released, but all but three had been lost by the time a second group of 16 were released in December. Subsequent annual cohorts followed, ranging in size from 10 to 27 birds.  In 2019, the population began receiving birds relocated from the failed Florida reintroduction effort with the arrival of a 21-year old reintroduced female and her wild-born 4-year-old daughter, followed by the transfer of a juvenile female in 2021.
The flock has established a range centered on southwestern Louisiana but also including central and northeastern Louisiana and east Texas, with an occasional stray found more broadly. None of the first released group survived to full maturity, but in the Spring of 2014 the second cohort of birds began to form pairs and nest, producing the population's first eggs, although since the parents were still juveniles these eggs were infertile.  The next year saw fertile eggs but none survived to hatching.  However, in April 2016 a pair of reintroduced cranes hatched two chicks, one of which survived to fledge, represented the first in the wild in Louisiana since 1939.  Starting in 2017, a novel strategy was introduced: eggs in the process of hatching, taken from captive birds, were swapped into Louisiana nests in place of infertile eggs, allowing the chicks to be raised by substitute crane parents in the wild.  In 2018, a combination of naturally-laid and substituted eggs added five wild-raised juveniles to the population, which all survived to fledge.  As of August 2018, 125 birds had been released, with at least 65 surviving, while in 2020 following further releases, relocations from Florida, and several wild fledgings, there were 76 birds in this population.
A major hurdle with some of these reintroduced populations has been deaths to illegal hunting.  Over a period of two years, five of the approximately 100 whooping cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population were illegally shot and killed. One of the dead cranes was the female known as "First Mom". In 2006, she and her mate were the first eastern captive raised and released pair to successfully raise a chick to adulthood in the wild. This was a particular blow to that population because whooping cranes do not yet have an established successful breeding situation in the East. On March 30, 2011, Wade Bennett, 18, of Cayuga, Indiana and an unnamed juvenile pleaded guilty to killing First Mom. After killing the crane, the juvenile had posed holding up her body. Bennett and the juvenile were sentenced to a $1 fine, probation, and court fees of about $500, a penalty which was denounced by various conservation organizations as being too light. The prosecuting attorney has estimated that the cost of raising and introducing to the wild one whooping crane could be as much as $100,000.  Overall, the International Crane Foundation estimates that the nearly 20% of deaths among the reintroduced cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population are due to shootings.
Illegal shootings have accounted for an even larger proportion of mortality among the birds introduced into the Louisiana population, with about 10% of the first 147 released cranes being shot and killed. Two juveniles were apprehended for a 2011 incident, a Louisiana man was sentenced to 45 days imprisonment and a $2500 fine after pleading guilty to a killing in November 2014, and a Texas man was fined $25,000 for a January 2016 shooting and barred from possessing firearms during a 5-year probation period, on subsequent violation of which he was given an 11-month custodial sentence. On the other hand, a Louisiana man cited for a July 2018 shooting received probation, community service and hunting and fishing restrictions but no fine or firearms restriction. Two Louisiana juveniles were cited in 2018 for a May 2016 incident.


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The common crane (Grus grus), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (Grus virgo) and the Siberian crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus). Along with the sandhill (Antigone canadensis) and demoiselle cranes and the brolga (Antigone rubicunda), it is one of only four crane species not currently classified as threatened with extinction or conservation dependent on the species level. Despite the species' large numbers, local extinctions and extirpations have taken place in part of its range, and an ongoing reintroduction project is underway in the United Kingdom.


The first formal description of the common crane was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Ardea grus. The current genus Grus was erected by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. Grus is the Latin word for a "crane".


The common crane is a large, stately bird and a medium-sized crane. It is 100–130 cm (39–51 in) long with a 180–240 cm (71–94 in) wingspan. The body weight can range from 3 to 6.1 kg (6.6 to 13.4 lb), with the nominate subspecies averaging around 5.4 kg (12 lb) and the eastern subspecies (G. g. lilfordi) averaging 4.6 kg (10 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 50.7–60.8 cm (20.0–23.9 in) long, the tarsus is 20.1–25.2 cm (7.9–9.9 in) and the exposed culmen is 9.5–11.6 cm (3.7–4.6 in).
Males are slightly heavier and larger than females, with weight showing the largest sexual size dimorphism, followed by wing, central toe, and head length in adults and juveniles.
This species is slate-grey overall. The forehead and lores are blackish with a bare red crown and a white streak extending from behind the eyes to the upper back. The overall colour is darkest on the back and rump and palest on the breast and wings. The primaries, the tips of secondaries, the alula, the tip of the tail, and the edges of upper tail coverts are all black and the greater coverts droop into explosive plumes. This combination of colouration ultimately distinguishes it from similar species in Asia, like the hooded (G. monacha) and black-necked cranes (G. nigricollis). The juvenile has yellowish-brown tips to its body feathers and lacks the drooping wing feathers and the bright neck pattern of the adult, and has a fully feathered crown. Every two years, before migration, the adult common crane undergoes a complete moult, remaining flightless for six weeks, until the new feathers grow.
It has a loud trumpeting call, given in flight and display. The call is piercing and can be heard from a considerable distance. It has a dancing display, leaping with wings uplifted, described in detail below.


This species is found in the northern parts of Europe and across the Palearctic to Siberia. Formerly the species was spread as far west as Ireland, but about 200 years ago, it became extinct there. However, it has since started to return to Ireland naturally and there are now plans to help it return to Ireland on a greater scale. The common crane is an uncommon breeder in southern Europe, smaller numbers breeding in Greece, former-Yugoslavia, Romania, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. Larger breeding populations can be found in Scandinavia, especially Finland and Sweden. The heart of the breeding population for the species is in Russia, however, where possibly up to 100,000 cranes of this species can be found seasonally. It is distributed as a breeder from Ukraine to the Chukchi Peninsula in Russia. The breeding population extends as far south as Manchuria but almost the entire Asian breeding population is restricted to Russia. Approximately 48-50 breeding pairs exist in the UK, with population centres in Somerset and Norfolk. In May 2021, ecologists in Ireland got excited and optimistic that a pair of common cranes, which have arrived in the midlands, will become the first to breed there in over 300 years.
The species is a long distance migrant predominantly wintering in northern Africa. Autumn migration is from August to October in the breeding areas, but from late October to early December at the wintering sites. Spring migration starts in February at wintering sites up to early March, but from March through May at the breeding areas. Migration phenology of common cranes is changing due to climate change.  Important staging areas occur anywhere from Sweden, The Netherlands and Germany to China (with a large one around the Caspian Sea) and many thousand cranes can be seen in one day in the Autumn. Some birds winter in southern Europe, including Portugal, Spain and France. Most eastern common cranes winter in the river valleys of Sudan, Ethiopia, Tunisia and Eritrea with smaller numbers in Turkey, northern Israel, Iraq and parts of Iran. The third major wintering region is in the northern half of Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan. Minimal wintering also occurs in Burma, Vietnam and Thailand. Lastly, they winter in eastern China, where they are often the most common crane (outnumbering black-necked cranes ten-to-one). Migrating flocks fly in a "V" formation.
It is a rare visitor to Japan and Korea, mostly blown over from the Chinese wintering population, and is a rare vagrant to western North America, where birds are occasionally seen with flocks of migrating sandhill cranes.


In Europe, the common crane predominantly breeds in boreal and taiga forest and mixed forests, from an elevation of sea-level to 2,200 m (7,200 ft). In northern climes, it breeds in treeless moors, on bogs, or on dwarf heather habitats, usually where small lakes or pools are also found. In Sweden, breeders are usually found in small, swampy openings amongst pine forests, while in Germany, marshy wetlands are used. Breeding habitat used in Russia are similar, though they can be found nesting in less likely habitat such as steppe and even semi-desert, so long as water is near. Primarily, the largest number of common cranes are found breeding in wooded swamps, bogs and wetlands and seem to require quiet, peaceful environs with minimal human interference. They occur at low density as breeders even where common, typically ranging from 1 to 5 pairs per 100 km² (39 sq mi).
In winter, this species moves to flooded areas, shallow sheltered bays, and swampy meadows. During the flightless moulting period there is a need for shallow waters or high reed cover for concealment. Later, after the migration period, the birds winter regularly in open country, often on cultivated lands and sometimes also in savanna-like areas, for example on the Iberian Peninsula.


The common crane is omnivorous, as are all cranes. It largely eats plant matter, including roots, rhizomes, tubers, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds. They also commonly eat, when available, pond-weeds, heath berries, peas, potatoes, olives, acorns, cedarnuts and pods of peanuts. Notably amongst the berries consumed, the cranberry, is possibly named after the species.
Animal foods become more important during the summer breeding season and may be the primary food source at that time of year, especially while regurgitating to young. Their animal foods are insects, especially dragonflies, and also snails, earthworms, crabs, spiders, millipedes, woodlice, amphibians, rodents, and small birds.
Common cranes may either forage on land or in shallow water, probing around with their bills for any edible organism. Although crops may locally be damaged by the species, they mostly consume waste grain in winter from previously harvested fields and so actually benefit farmers by cleaning fields for use in the following year. As with other cranes, all foraging (as well as drinking and roosting) is done in small groups, which may variously consist of pairs, family groups or winter flocks.


The common crane is a fairly social bird while not breeding. Flocks of up to 400 birds may be seen flying together during migration. Staging sites, where migrating birds gather to rest and feed in the middle of their migration, may witness thousands of cranes gathering at once. However, the flocks of the species are not stable social units but rather groups that ensure greater safety in numbers and collectively draw each other's attention to ideal foraging and roosting sites. Possibly due to a longer molt, younger and non-breeding cranes are usually the earliest fall migrants and may band together at that time of year. During these migratory flights, common cranes have been known to fly at altitudes of up to 33,000 ft (10,000 m), one of the highest of any species of bird, second only to the Ruppell's Griffin Vulture.
Cranes use a kleptoparasitic strategy to recover from temporary reductions in feeding rate, particularly when the rate is below the threshold of intake necessary for survival. Accumulated intake of common cranes during daytime at a site of stopover and wintering shows a typical anti-sigmoid shape, with greatest increases of intake after dawn and before dusk.


In 1870 Józef Chełmoński painted a picture: "Departure of Cranes" (National Museum in Cracow)
In Ireland, despite being extinct for over 200 years, the common crane plays a very important part in Irish culture and folklore and so thus recent efforts to encourage it back to Ireland are received with much enthusiasm.
On 3 May 2021, a couple was spotted nesting at a side on a rewetted bog in Ireland.
The Kranich Museum in Hessenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, is dedicated to art and folklore related to the common crane.
The common crane is the sacred bird of the god Hephaestus, and it features heavily in the god's iconography.
In Indian states of Rajsthan and Gujarat this crane is described in lots of folk songs. Like- anewly married woman (whose husband has gone to far away place for earning) will sing a song to crane to take a message to her husband and request to tell him to come home early.


Gryllodes sigillatus, the tropical house cricket, Indian house cricket or banded cricket, is a small cricket probably native to southwestern Asia, but has spread throughout tropical regions worldwide. Like its relative the house cricket, the tropical house cricket is also raised commercially for feeding certain pets such as reptiles, birds, amphibians, and insectivorous arthropods.


The tropical house cricket is slightly smaller than its relative the house cricket, growing about 13–18 mm (0.51–0.71 in). These crickets are light yellowish tan and have two thick black bands. One of the bands runs through the bottom of the thorax while the other goes across the upper abdomen. Females are similar to males, only wingless and a long ovipositor emerging from its rear.


Decorated house crickets are relatively new to the pet trade and are favored by many people due to easier care requirements than the more-common house cricket or the black field cricket. The banded crickets are said to be a lot more active than competitors, and live longer lifespans than the average house cricket. They also have a lower chitin content than average crickets, making digestibility easier. Tropical house crickets are also immune to the CrPV virus. Care is similar to that of the house cricket.


Gryllus pennsylvanicus is known as the fall field cricket. G. pennsylvanicus is common in southern Ontario, is widespread across much of North America and can be found even into parts of northern Mexico. It tends to be absent in most of the southwestern United States including southern California. Within its geographic range this field cricket will burrow into soil in fields and forest edges. Individuals inhabit grassy disturbed areas  and are often found around areas of human habitation.


Adults reach 15–25 millimetres (0.6–1.0 in) and coloration ranges from dark black to dark brown, although some specimens show a slight reddish tint. The black antennae tend to be longer than the body span of the species. The cerci are longer than the head and prothorax, and the wings do not extend past the cerci.


During the breeding season, the number of adult female G. pennsylvanicus captured in pitfall traps peaks approximately two weeks after the peak in the number of adult males captured, which seems to indicate protandry. Breeding in some areas also coincides with the seed rain from certain agricultural weeds, possibly providing females with food resources to increase their fecundity. Males call from the mouths of burrows or cracks in the ground into which they escape when scared. Calling males are separated from each other by approximately 7.7 to 10.3 m in the field, likely making it costly for females to sample large numbers of potential mates. Male G. pennsylvanicus calling song consists of short chirps – roughly two to three per second – each consisting of three to five pulses (each a single closure of the male forewings or tegmina).
 Like most other gryllines, females are attracted to male calling song  and are attracted to higher calling effort at least when population density is low. In an elegant series of field experiments, Zuk  showed that female G. pennsylvanicus were more attracted to calling song produced by older males than that of younger males. Males found paired with females in the field were also older than unpaired calling males nearby. However, in the earlier experiment higher calling effort explained a small, but statistically significant proportion of the variance in female attraction, raising the possibility that the apparent preference of females for the songs of older males might be due to differences in calling effort between older and younger males.
Adults are mostly active during night when the males sing to attract females. Females will then lay their eggs by injecting their ovipositor into soil. A single female will lay around 50 eggs at a time and can lay well over 400 eggs in her life span.  Eggs laid in the late summer and fall seasons will overwinter and hatch the following spring. There is one generation per year. Sometimes as winter approaches adults will find their way into houses where they will try to overwinter.


Because the only reliable method of distinguishing G. pennsylvanicus and G. veletis is based on the timing of their life history, Alexander and Bigelow  proposed that G. veletis and G. pennsylvanicus were sister species and had diverged through a process of allochronic speciation, whereby a temporal separation between the breeding seasons of the two incipient species restricts gene flow. However, G. veletis and G. pennsylvanicus are not sister taxa; instead, G. pennsylvanicus form a well-supported clade with G. ovisopis and G. firmus, the latter of which forms an extensive hybrid zone with G. pennsylvanicus in the eastern United States. Currently, a major molecular phylogenetic revision of North American Gryllinae is underway (D. Gray, pers. comm.) that will include the approximately 20  western species as well as eastern species left out of earlier phylogenies (e.g. G. vernalis). This greatly anticipated work will undoubtedly provide ample diversity fodder for research into the evolution of life histories.


G. pennsylvanicus is an omnivorous  organism and has been shown to be a significant predator of both seeds  and invertebrates. The broad diet of G. pennsylvanicus, coupled with seasonal variation in the availability of different types of prey (plant or animal) could exert substantial diversifying selection on cricket life histories (i.e. the genotypes that are optimal in high seed abundance years are likely different from those that are most fit in years of high invertebrate prey – genotype by environment interactions ).
Recorded food plants of G. pennsylvanicus include smooth crabgrass (Digitaria ischaemum), lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album), English plantain (Plantago lanceolata), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) and chicory (Cichorium intybus). Even though they are a sizable cricket for North America they are preyed upon by everything from hawks to hornets.


Guaiacum angustifolium is a species of flowering plant in the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae. Common names include Texas guaiacum, Texas lignum-vitae, soapbush and huayacán. It is native to southern and western Texas in the United States and northern Mexico. The specific name is derived from the Latin angustus, meaning "narrow," and -folius, meaning "-leaved".


Texas lignum-vitae is a many branched shrub or small tree, reaching a height of 7 m (23 ft).
This evergreen has a dense canopy and short lateral branches.


Leaves are 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) long, opposite and pinnately compound, with four to eight pairs of leaflets. The dark green, leathery, linear to linear-spatulate leaflets are 5–16 mm (0.20–0.63 in) long and 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) wide. Leaflets fold themselves at night and when exposed to hot sunlight.


The small blue to purple flowers are 12–22 mm (0.47–0.87 in) in diameter. They have five sepals, five petals around 1 cm (0.39 in) in length, and ten stamens. The blooming period lasts from March until September, with flowers appearing after rain.


The fruit is a flat, leathery capsule 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) in diameter with one to two lobes, sometimes as many as four. Dehiscent locules contain a single shiny, bean-like seed that is usually bright red.


Like other species in its genus, the wood of G. angustifolium has extreme hardness and density and will sink in water. The sapwood is creamy yellow, while the heartwood is dark purple-brown. The wood is used for fence posts, tool handles, and firewood. Root extracts are used to treat rheumatism and sexually transmitted diseases. Soap can be made from the root bark, as it contains saponin; historically soap made in this way would be used to wash wool, since it does not fade the dyed-colors. The bark of the roots is also used as a disinfectant. The flowers are valued by beekeepers for their consistent nectar production. Texas lignum-vitae is cultivated as an ornamental because of its drought tolerance, dense foliage, compact size, gnarled branches, and fragrant flowers. It is used in hedges, rock gardens, and xeriscaping.


Guaiacum angustifolium is a host plant for the caterpillars of the lyside sulphur (Kricogonia lyside). The leaves contain 16-18% crude protein and are browsed by White-tailed deer.


Like other members of its genus, the international trade of Texas lignum-vitae is restricted by CITES Appendix II. Only seeds, pollen, and finished products ready for retail sale may be legally exported.


Guaiacum coulteri is a species of flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae, that is native to western Mexico and Guatemala.


Guazuma ulmifolia, commonly known as West Indian elm or bay cedar, is a medium-sized tree normally found in pastures and disturbed forests. This flowering plant from the family Malvaceae grows up to 30m in height and 30–40cm in diameter. It is widely found in areas such as the Caribbean, South America, Central America and Mexico serving several uses that vary from its value in carpentry to its utility in medicine.


Guazuma ulmifolia grows to 30m in height and 30–40cm in diameter and comes with a rounded crown. Leaves are distributed in an alternate pattern with 2 rows in assembled flatly. The leaves are ovate to lance-shaped, finely saw-toothed margin, usually have a rough texture and are 6–13cm in length and 2.5–6cm in diameter. Three to five main veins arise from the base (rounded or notched, unequal sided) of the leaf which has a darker green upper surface and a fairer green color underneath. They are virtually hairless and thin. The leaf stalks of this species are lean, approximately 6-12mm long, and are covered with small "star-shaped" hairs.
The panicles (indeterminate flower clusters) are in a branched pattern around 2.5–5cm in length and are found at the bottom of the leaves. The flowers come in many, are short-stalked, small in size, have a brown-yellow color, five parted, 1cm in length and have a small fragrance to them. The calyx contains are lobed (2-3), have hairs that are brown or light grey, as well as greenish. They have 5 petals with a yellow-like stamen, 15 anthers per pistil, 5 stigmas (combined), ovary lighter green in color with hairs, and also contains a style.  The fruit which have capsules that are round to elliptical is 15-25mm in length. They have many seeds that are shaped like eggs and are 3mm in length, grey.


The species flowers throughout the year, in particular from April to October. Guazuma ulmifolia can be cultivated by either directly planting seeds or cuttings of the plant, as well as root stumps and bare-root seedlings. Before planting the seeds they need to be soaked in boiling water for 30 seconds; the water should be drained afterward. 7–14 days after fresh seeds are planted, germination occurs (60-80% rate). When they reach a height of 30–40cm which is usually about 15 weeks later they are then prepared for “outplanting.” When using root stumps as a means for propagation they are left to dwell in a nursery for some time until the diameter of the stem reached 1.5-2.5cm, which is usually about 5–8 months.


The Guazuma ulmifolia  falls prey most commonly to the defoliating insect Phelyypera distigma, as well as Arsenura armida, Epitragus sp., Aepytus sp., Automeris rubrescens, Hylesia lineata, Lirimiris truncata and Periphoba arcaei. These defoliators very rarely cause problems, but has been seen.


Guazuma ulmifolia  is normally found in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. They are native to Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Virgin Islands (US).


The wood of the Guazuma ulmifolia  is utilized for posts, interior carpentry, light construction, boxes, crates, shoe horns, tool handles, and charcoal. The wood is found to be very unproblematic to work with. The sapwood has a color of brown (light) and the heartwood is pink to brown.


Guazuma ulmifolia  serves as a very vital source of fodder for livestock approaching the end of the dry season of the native array dry areas. It is the favored tree for fodder in Jamaica.  The trees also serve to bestow shade in pastures. The immature fruits and leaves are given as food to horses and cattle. The fruits are also given to domestic pigs in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The leaves and fruits are usually fed to the cattle throughout the arid season. The trees may also serve the purpose of being actual posts surrounding pastures. The crunchy, woody fruits and its seeds are edible raw or cooked and have a mild, sweet, honey/granola like flavor.


The fruit bodies grow scattered, in groups, or clusters on decaying, bark-free conifer wood. A snowbank fungus, it is most common at higher elevations after snowmelt in the spring. It is found in North America west of the Rocky Mountains. In 2010, it was recorded for the first time in Iran.


Gunnera tinctoria, known as giant rhubarb or Chilean rhubarb, is a flowering plant species native to southern Chile and neighbouring zones in Argentina. It is unrelated to rhubarb, as the two plants belong into different orders, but looks similar from a distance and has similar culinary uses. It is a large-leaved  perennial plant that grows to more than two metres tall. It has been introduced to many parts of the world as an ornamental plant and in some countries (for instance New Zealand, Great Britain and Ireland) it has spread from gardens and is becoming a weed problem. It is known under the synonyms: Gunnera chilensis Lam. and Gunnera scabra Ruiz & Pav.


It was first described in 1782 by Juan Ignacio Molina as Panke tinctoria, and was transferred to the genus, Gunnera, in 1805 by Charles-François Brisseau de Mirbel.


Gunnera tinctoria is a giant, clump-forming herbaceous perennial. The leaves can grow up to 2.5m across, cordate and palmate with up to 9-lobed margins. It has erect spikes of cone-shaped inflorescences (to 1m) from spring to early summer, with small flowers. The fruit is orange. The number of seeds is estimated from 80,000 per seedhead to 250,000 per plant.


In its native Chile, where it is called nalca or pangue, it is used in a similar way to European rhubarb: the stalks are eaten fresh or cooked into jam or cordial. The leaves are used in the preparation of the traditional Chilean dish curanto.


In parts of New Zealand the Chilean rhubarb has become a recognised pest plant. For instance in Taranaki, on the west coast of the North Island it was spread to riverbeds, coastal cliffs and forest margins.  G. tinctoria is on the National Pest Plant Accord. Under Section 52 and 53 of the Biosecurity Act, it is an offence to knowingly propagate, distribute, spread, sell, offer for sale. In Great Britain it has become well-established and sometimes problematic in western districts and appears to be spreading. In the west of Ireland, G. tinctoria is a major invasive species, in particular on Achill Island and on Corraun Peninsula, County Mayo. Its large leaves create dense shade, preventing other species from germinating or growing.
Chilean rhubarb is classified in the European Union as an invasive species of Union concern, and it is illegal to import, grow, or sell it within the EU.


A similar species is Gunnera manicata (Brazilian giant rhubarb). This species may also be invasive.


Gymnadenia conopsea, commonly known as the fragrant orchid or chalk fragrant orchid, is a herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae native to northern Europe.


The name of the genus Gymnadenia is formed from Greek words γυμνός (gymnós, "nude") and ἀδήν (adēn, "gland") and refers to the characteristics of the organs for secreting nectar. The specific Latin name "conopsea" derives from the Greek κώνωψ (kónops), literally meaning "mosquito-like", probably because of the similarity of the long spur of the flower with the mouthparts of a mosquito.
The scientific binomial name of this plant was initially Orchis conopsea, proposed by the Swedish naturalist and botanist Carl von Linné (1707–1778) in his Species Plantarum of 1753. The name has been subsequently amended to the one currently accepted (Gymnadenia conopsea), by the British botanist Robert Brown (1773–1858) in 1813. In German, this plant is called Mücken-Händelwurz or Mücken Nacktdrüse; in French, is called gymnadénie moucheron or orchis moucheron; in Italy, it is called manina rosea ("pink hand"); in Croatian, it is known under mrežasti vranjak.


Gymnadenia conopsea reaches on average 20–60 centimetres (7.9–23.6 in) of height, with a maximum of 80 centimetres (31 in). These plants are tuberous geophytes, as they bring their buds in underground tuber, organs that annually produce new stems, leaves and flowers. These orchids are "terrestrial"  because unlike "epiphytic" species, they do not grow on other plants of major sizes.
The stem is leafy and robust, with a striated surface. The leaves are long, narrow and lanceolate and vary from 3 to 7. The leaf color is gray-green. Size of leaf: width 1 to 2 cm, length 10 – 25 cm.
These orchids have two ovoidal bulbs, deeply webbed and with many small and short lobes. Size of tubers: 1 to 3.5 cm.
The inflorescence is 5–25 centimetres (2.0–9.8 in) long and it is composed of flowers gathered in dense cylindrical spikes (up to 50 flowers per spike).  These inflorescences are scented and genes underlying eugenol (a volatile scent compound) production have been identified in Gymnadenia conopsea, G. odoratissima and G. densiflora. The flowers are petiolated, placed in the axils of long bracts and reach on average 0.8–1.4 centimetres (0.31–0.55 in). They have a distinctive three lobed lip and long spurs. Their light scent is similar to cloves. Their colors vary from white and pink to pink-purple, more rarely white. These flowers bloom in the Summer, from June to July. They are hermaphrodite and pollinated by insects (entomophily), including moths.


The species is almost exclusively pollinated by moths (Lepidoptera). The most common pollinators are the small elephant hawk-moth (Deilephila porcellus), hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), silver Y (Autographa gamma), burnished brass (Diachrysia chrysitis) and large yellow underwing (Noctua pronuba). Fruit set is high with an average of 73%.
The seed's germination is conditioned by the presence of mycorrhizal fungi. Gymnadenia conopsea is held to be a mycorrhizal generalist, able to form associations with a variety of different fungal species including species in the Tulasnellaceae, Ceratobasidiaceae and Pezizales.


This plant is quite common throughout northern Europe with the exception of the Dinaric Alps. In Asia it is common in areas to the north of the Himalayas.
Gymnadenia conopsea ssp. borealis  has been recorded from Co. Donegal, Ireland in 2004.


This species' habitat includes mountain meadows and pastures, grassland and fens. They grow on siliceous and calcareous substrate, mildly damp and with low nutritional value, at an altitude of 0–2,400 metres (0–7,874 ft) above sea level.


Gymnadenia conopsea subsp. conopsea
Gymnadenia conopsea subsp. montana Bisse


Gymnocarpium dryopteris has small, delicate fronds up to 40 cm (16 inches) long, with ternately-compound pinnae (leaves). Fronds occur singly. On the underside of matured pinnae the naked sori can be found (the Latin generic name gymnocarpium means "with naked fruit"). The species grows in coniferous woodlands and on shale talus slopes.
Gymnocarpium dryopteris, a forest understory plant, is not found in association with Quercus (oak).
In cultivation in the UK this plant and the cultivar "Plumosum" have gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.


The Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) is a tree in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the legume family Fabaceae, native to the Midwest, Upper South, Appalachia, and small pockets of New York in the United States and Ontario in Canada. The seed may be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee beans; however, unroasted pods and seeds are toxic. The wood from the tree is used by cabinetmakers and carpenters. It is planted as a street tree.
From 1976 to 1994, the Kentucky coffeetree was the state tree of Kentucky, after which the tulip poplar was returned to that designation.


The tree varies from 18 to 21 meters (60–70 feet) high with a spread of 12–15 meters (40–50 feet) and a trunk up to one meter (3 feet) in diameter. The tree grows at a medium rate with height increases of anywhere from 12" to 24" per year. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 4 meters (13 feet) tall. It usually separates 3 to 4½ meters (10–15 feet) from the ground into three or four divisions which spread slightly and form a narrow pyramidal head; or when crowded by other trees, sending up one tall central branchless shaft to the height of 15–21 m (50–70 ft).  Branches are stout, pithy, and blunt; roots are fibrous.
The Kentucky coffeetree is a moderately fast-growing tree, and male trees are often grown in parks and along city streets for ornamental purposes.  The tree is typically fairly short-lived, healthy trees living from 100 to 150 years. The Kentucky coffeetree sheds its leaves early during the fall and appears bare for up to 6 months.  The naked appearance of the tree is reflected through the Kentucky coffeetree's Greek genus name, which means "naked branch". Like the Sumac, branches are absent of fine spray; smaller branches are thick and lumpish.  Because of the absence of smaller branches and its later leafing, the French in Canada named it Chicot, "stubby". The expanding leaves are conspicuous because of the varied colors of the leaflets; the youngest are bright pink, while those which are older vary from green to bronze.
The bark is ash-gray and scaly, flaking similarly to black cherry, but more so. The trees are dioecious, and the fruit is a hard-shelled bean in heavy, woody, thick-walled pods filled with sweet, thick, gooey pulp. Pod length ranges from 5 to 10 inches (130 to 250 mm); unfertilized female trees may bear miniature seedless pods. The beans contain the toxin cytisine.
Bark: Tan or dark gray, deeply fissured, surface scaly, often with prominent narrow ridges.  Branchlets at first coated with short reddish down.
Wood: Light brown; heavy, strong, coarse-grained; durable in contact with the ground, takes a fine polish. Specific gravity, 0.6934; weight of cubic foot, 43.21 lb (19.60 kg).
Winter buds: Minute, depressed in downy cavities of the stem, two in the axil of each leaf, the smaller sterile.  Bud scales two, ovate, coated with brown tomentum and growing with the shoot, become orange green, hairy and about one inch long, before they fall.
Leaves: Alternate, bipinnately compound, ten to fourteen pinnate, lowest pinnae reduced to leaflets, the other seven to thirteen foliate.  One to three feet long, eighteen to twenty-four inches broad, by the greater development of the upper pairs of pinnae.  Leaf stalks and stalks of pinnae, are terete, enlarged at base, smooth when mature, pale green, often purple on the upper side.  Leaflets ovate, two to two and one-half inches long, wedge-shaped or irregularly rounded at base, with wavy margin, acute apex.  They come out of the bud bright pink, but soon become bronze green, smooth and shining above.  When full grown are dark yellow green above, pale green beneath.  In autumn turn a bright clear yellow. Stipules leaf-like, lanceolate, serrate, deciduous.
Winter twigs are very stout and dark reddish brown to green brown in color; the pith is very thick and salmon pink to brown in color. The terminal bud is absent, and the lateral buds are small, bronze in color, and appear to be partially sunken beneath the bark of the twig. The leaf scars are very large, heart shaped with 3 to 5 conspicuous bundle scars. The flowers are dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants). The female flowers are 8 to 12 inches long, greenish white in color, appear in early summer, and are quite fragrant. The male flowers are about half the size of the female flowers.
Flowers: June. Dioecious by abortion, terminal, greenish white. Staminate flowers in a short raceme-like corymb three to four inches (75–100 mm)  long, pistillate flowers in a raceme ten to twelve inches (250–300 mm)  long.
Calyx: Tubular, hairy, ten-ribbed, five-lobed; lobes valvate in bud, acute, nearly equal.
Corolla: Petals five, oblong, hairy, spreading or reflexed, imbricate in bud.
Stamens: Ten, five long and five short, free, included; filaments thread-like; anthers orange colored, introrse; in the pistillate flower small and sterile.
Pistil: Ovary superior, sessile, hairy, contracted into a short style, with two stigmatic lobes; ovules in two rows.
Fruit: Legume, six to ten inches (150–250 mm)  long, one and one-half to two inches wide, somewhat curved, with thickened margins, dark reddish brown with slight glaucous bloom, crowned with remnant of the styles.  Stalks an inch or two long.  Seeds six to nine, surrounded by a thick layer of dark, sweet pulp.
Rooting Habit, "Tap Root in proportion like a carrot". A seedling tree grows many times in root length to its growth upward in height. The Kentucky coffee tree is not commonly offered in the nursery trade because the taproot makes the tree somewhat difficult to transplant. Being in the Legume family the roots fix nitrogen in the soil.
Soil: Prefers rich, moist soils in floodplains, terraces, ravines, coves, and lower slopes.


The Kentucky coffeetree is considered a rare tree species. "Rare species are those that are so uncommon that they should be monitored to determine whether their populations are becoming threatened." It is widely distributed, but rare.
The tree's native range is limited, occurring from Southern Ontario, Canada and in the United States from Kentucky (where it was first encountered by Europeans) and Connecticut in the east, to Kansas, eastern Nebraska, and southeastern South Dakota in the west, to southern Wisconsin and Michigan in the north, and to northern Louisiana in the south. It is planted as an urban shade tree across the United States and eastern Canada, including California. It has a disjunct population in Central New York.
This tree usually occurs as widely dispersed individuals or small colonial groups with interconnected root systems. This tree is found in floodplains and river valleys but is also sometimes seen on rocky hillsides and limestone woods. In the northeastern part of its range, seemingly natural groves of this tree are actually associated with known prehistoric village sites. In some parts of its range, this tree may be used as an indicator of the presence of limestone or of calcareous soils.
The Kentucky coffeetree is considered an example of evolutionary anachronism. The tough, leathery seed pods are too difficult for many animals to chew through (in addition to being poisonous) and they are too heavy for either wind or water dispersal. It is thus believed that the tree would have been browsed upon by now-extinct mammalian megafauna, which ate the pods and nicked the seeds with their large teeth, aiding in germination. This behavior is seen among African elephants eating Fabaceae relatives in Africa. Because of this, its prehistoric range may have been much larger than it has been in historical times. Today, in the wild, it only grows well in wetlands, and it is thought that only in such wet conditions can the seed pods rot away to allow germination in the absence of large herbivores.


Gymnocladus dioicus is considered well-suited to urban environments, as it is tolerant of poor soils, has extreme drought tolerance, and is not vulnerable to serious insect infestations or disease problems. It is cultivated by specialty tree plant nurseries as an ornamental tree for planting in gardens and parks. The peculiarly late-emerging and early-dropping leaves, coupled with the fact that the large leaves mean few twigs in the winter profile, make it a tree that is ideal for urban shading where winter sunlight is to be maximized (such as in proximity to solar hot-air systems).
It is often planted because of its unique appearance and interesting character. There are several Kentucky coffeetrees at Mount Vernon, in the gardens along the path leading up to the house of George Washington.
Trees prefer a rich moist soil, such as bottom lands.  Their growth is largely unaffected by heat, cold, drought, insects, disease, road salt, ice, and alkaline soil.
Kentucky coffeetree is easy to grow from seed. Filing the seedcoat by hand with a small file, and then soaking the seeds in water for 24 hours will ensure rapid germination. Propagation is also easy from dormant root cuttings from December through March.
The Kentucky coffeetree is typically found on "alluvial soils of river and flood plains and nearby terraces". Here it may be locally abundant and form large clonal colonies, reproducing by shoots sprouting from roots.


In addition to use as a food, the seeds of Kentucky coffeetree were used by Native Americans for ceremonial and recreational purposes.  Seeds were used as dice in games of chance that were common in eastern tribes.  The seeds were also used in jewelry.  The importance of the Kentucky coffeetree to Native Americans undoubtedly contributed to its dispersal.
Gymnocladus dioicus is used as a street tree as far north as Montréal, Québec. It resists harsh winters and de-icing salts.