Camel Cricket and Sugar Maple Tree By: Anjali Mahajan and Marissa Conley

Camel Cricket

Also called Cave Crickets or Sand-treader Crickets Belongs to the family Rhaphidophoridae They have long legs and antennae, they are hump-backed, and are wingless, are light tan to dark brown. About 25 mm long. Can jump several feet. Found world-wide and in North America, south of Arctic areas. Lives in cool, damp places such as rotten logs, caves, and under leaves or rocks. Eat organic food, smaller animals, and paper products.

Camel Cricket continued The life cycle is simple metamorphosis. Nymphs hatch from their eggs after 15 to 25 days. Nymphs are adults in about 12 weeks depending on the temperature. There is as many as 3 generations produced each year in southern areas.

Sugar Maple Tree

Grows to about 100 feet tall and can live over 200 years. They are found in Southeastern Canada, Northeastern United States, extending south to Tennessee. Younger trees have dark grey bark and older trees have dark brown bark and have ridges and vertical grooves. The leaf color is bright green, with a paler green underside. It is rounded at the base and has 5 lobes without fine teeth. The twig is slender, shiny, and brown. It generates a bud ¼ to 3/8 inch long, which is brown in color, pointed, and conical. The fruit of these trees mature in the fall. Each winged seed is about an inch long. The wings of the seeds are separated by about 60 degrees. The seeds join each other in a straight line.

Sugar Maple Tree continued The leaves are fully expanded 3 to 4 weeks after the leaf buds begin to swell in the spring. The flowers emerge a week after the leaves are in full bloom. Fruits that result from flower pollination mature about 10 to 12 weeks and become ripe in September or October. The minimum seed bearing age is about 30 years.

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