For insects, choosing a favorable oviposition site is a type of parental care, as far as it increases the fitness of its offspring. Niche theory predicts that crickets should show a bell-shaped oviposition response to substrate moisture. However, lab experiments with mole crickets showed a linear oviposition response to substrate moisture. Studies with the house cricket Acheta domesticus also showed a linear juvenile body growth response to water availability, thus adult ovipositing females should respond positively to substrate moisture. We used a field experiment to evaluate the relationship between oviposition preference and substrate moisture in forest litter-dwelling cricket species. We also evaluated oviposition responses to substrate moisture level in Ubiquepuella telytokous, the most abundant litter cricket species in our study area, using a laboratory study. We offered cotton substrate for oviposition which varied in substrate moisture level from zero (i.e., dry) to maximum water absorption capacity. We used two complementary metrics to evaluate oviposition preference: (i) presence or absence of eggs in each sampling unit as binary response variable, and (ii) number of eggs oviposited per sampling unit as count response variable. To test for non-linear responses, we adjusted generalized additive models (GAMM) with mixed effects. We found that both cricket oviposition probability and effort (i.e., number of eggs laid) increased linearly with substrate moisture in the field experiment, and for U. telytokous in the lab experiment. We discarded any non-linear responses. Our results demonstrate the importance of substrate moisture as an ecological niche dimension for litter crickets. This work bolsters knowledge of litter cricket life history association with moisture, and suggests that litter crickets may be particularly threatened by changes in climate that favor habitat drying.

The mating behaviors of crickets, especially those related to agonistic encounters and oviposition, are poorly known. For example, only 10 of the 1005 valid species of Phalangopsidae have been studied to some extent. Here, we describe the reproductive behavior of Endecous (Endecous) chape, characterizing the actions involved in agonistic encounters, mating behaviors (female attraction, pair-formation, courtship, mating, and postcopulatory behavior), and oviposition. We recorded and timed agonistic, mating, and oviposition behaviors in staged trials. The male-male interactions of E. chape ranged in aggressiveness from low intensity (only antennal interaction) to high intensity (reciprocal fights). In the mating behavior, males courted females through antennation of the females' abdomen and cerci, followed by production of acoustic signals (with the exception of two males). Copulation occurred with females positioned above males (as is typical of Phalangopsidae), with an average elapsed time of 684.13 s, which is shorter than in other Phalangopsidae. We observed oviposition behavior only when three gravid females were placed together in an arena. Here, we contribute new knowledge of phalangopsid cricket behavior and provide useful information for understanding the evolution of reproductive behaviors. New characters described here can be used in phylogenetic analysis and for future studies about sexual selection and natural history.