Categories
Crickets, Camel Crickets and Mole CricketsWhat the hell is this?
December 2, 2009
I took this picture in March of 2008 when I was in Iraq and this thing was just plain nasty. It’s about the size of my thumb (length and width). That is in fact rat droppings around it and it’s obviously somewhat of a bottomfeeder. Do you guys know what this thing is?
Ryan Luddy
Haditha Dam, Iraq
Mole Cricket
Hi Ryan,
Though your photo is from Iraq, it is worth noting that we get submissions of Mole Crickets from around the world.
Update
After being severely chastised by one of our readers in a comment, we have decided to try to make things right. Mole Crickets are subterranean diggers that can also fly. They eat plant roots, and they do not feed on rat droppings since they are not scavengers.
Related Posts
- Mole Cricket from Iraq (October 26, 2006)
- Mole Cricket in Iraq (April 9, 2006)
- Mole Cricket from Iraq (April 27, 2007)
- Yet another Mole Cricket from Iraq (March 11, 2007)
- Mole Cricket (November 20, 2009)
Comments 3
I’m surprised you’d post such an ignorant e-mail without any attempt to try to educate the sender.
1. Rat droppings are irrelevant and coincidental. This insect doesn’t eat or live in them.
2. “Bottomfeeder” is usually meant in pejorative manner. Yes, this insect lives in the ground and eats things at “the bottom” (roots, worms, etc.). So what? Cows eat grass growing low to the ground (that grows in their own dung). I imagine the sender eats beef without hesitance.
3. “Nasty”? This insect never hurt anybody, and certainly never marched into somebody else’s country with a gun in it’s claw. In fact, this insect is one of the more fascinating types to many people because of its impressive adaptations to living in the soil.
Posted 03 Dec 2009 at 6:25 pm ¶Thank you for helping us to do our job. Though we take care to address as many questions our readership sends to us, we are sometimes brief in our responses.
Posted 03 Dec 2009 at 9:21 pm ¶Sorry – That person’s bugophobic e-mail caught me first thing on a grumpy morning. I actually think you are doing a great job.
Posted 04 Dec 2009 at 10:23 am ¶Post a Comment
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