Singing Insects of North America (SINA)
Thomas J. Walker, editor Teresa M. Cooper, web master
The primary goal of this Web site is to help users identify all species of crickets and katydids from America north of Mexico and the common species of Florida cicadas. The males of most species in these groups make loud, persistent calls that attract sexually ready, conspecific females. Because the songs are loud and species specific they are usually an easy means of identifying the caller. They also facilitate field and laboratory studies of many sorts.
Secondary goals of this site are to attract amateur and professional biologists to the study of singing insects and to provide them helpful information and access to relevant literature.
| In August 2019, an important new section on the Ensifera (crickets and katydids) of the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA) was added to SINA. FSCA contains most of the Ensifera collected by TJW and associates during their research projects centered in the southeastern U.S. and during collecting and recording trips to major sites in the Caribbean. Of importance to those interested in the songs of crickets and katydids, it provides easy online access to ca. 6460 cuts from the Walker Tape Library that were digitized and archived by Cornell’s Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds (MLNS). |
Except for first-time users of SINA, few spend time on the content of SINA's home page. Instead they click directly to either SINA's list of North American crickets or katydids.