Picture credit: Bruno Govaerts

We are delighted that Nancy Collins, a renowned orthopterist, has named a newly discovered tree cricket species in Mexico - Oecanthus rohiniae - after the CES faculty member Prof Rohini Balakrishnan.

Etymology.—Specific epithet in recognition of Rohini Balakrishnan whose research involves bioacoustics, animal behavior, ecology, and systematics. Her list of publications includes several that focus on or include tree crickets. The common name, Cri-Cri tree cricket, is named for Cri-Cri: El Grillito Cantor (Cri-Cri: The Little Singing Cricket), which was a character created by Francisco Gabilondo Soler, a Mexican composer and performer of children’s songs. Additionally, the sound this tree cricket makes is written as “cri, cri…” in Spanish.

Link to the article: Oecanthus rohiniae sp. nov. (Gryllidae: Oecanthinae): A new chirping tree cricket of the rileyi species group from Mexico (pensoft.net)