Burrow Aggregation of Prairie Mole Cricket, Gryllotalpa major Saussure (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) Males is Not Based on Soil Microhabitat Constraints at Lek Sites in Oklahoma

Abstract

Gryllotalpa major Saussure is a rare burrowing insect native to the tallgrass prairie in the south-central United States. Males construct aggregated burrows in lek arenas from which they produce sexual advertisement calls in a landscape that superficially appears to be rather homogeneous. To test the hypothesis that male calling burrows are aggregated due to habitat limitations linked to fine scale differences in soil characteristics, we analyzed ten soil samples per site taken along a transect from each of three lek sites in Osage and Craig Counties in northeastern Oklahoma for mineral content, moisture content, pH, texture and color. Transects ran across a lek, and thus samples were taken from empty areas on either side of the aggregation, as well as from near burrows. Although there were differences in these soil attributes within and among lek sites, this analysis showed no correlation between number of G. major burrows within 10 m of a soil sample site and any of these attributes for the three lek sites sampled.