Cricket from India
Location: Agumbe, Karnataka, India
April 10, 2012 7:26 pm
This photo of an unidentified cricket was taken in January by a trip mate on a recent adventure in India. The antennas must have been near a foot long! She was on a fence post with her ovipositor out, so we tried not to disturb her too much. Any ID would be greatly appreciated!
Signature: Brian
Raspy Cricket
Dear Brian,
We are not certain if this Longhorned Orthopteran is a Katydid or a Raspy Cricket, which is what we are leaning towards. We will contact Katydid expert Piotr Naskrecki to get his input.
Hi Daniel,
You are correct, this is a raspy cricket. The easiest way to tell them apart is to look at the front tibia: a katydid will have tympanum (or a least a tympanal slit) below the knee, raspy crickets don’t have them. Unfortunately, I will not be able to tell you more about this Indian species other than that it is possibly (with a big question mark) a member of the genus Pardogryllacris.
Piotr
Tsingy Bemaraha Katydid
Location: Western Madagascar
April 10, 2012 6:45 am
Hi there
I recently found this on the Bemaraha plateau at the village of Bevero in Madagascar. Have you any idea if it has been seen before? A designation down to species would be appreciated if possible. What possible advantage could there be in this shocking green and pink combination? Your thoughts please, Thank you. Len
Signature: Len deBeer
Raspy Cricket from Madagascar
Hi Len,
We will contact Katydid expert Piotr Naskrecki to see if he can identify this species which is possibly an immature specimen since it is lacking wings. We don’t have a theory on the advantage of the coloration of this Katydid.
Piotr Naskrecki Responds
Hi Daniel,
This is not a katydid but a nymph of a gryllacridid, also known as a leaf-rolling or raspy cricket. But it would be difficult to ID the genus at this stage as this is a very young nymph.
Cheers,
Piotr
Is this a mole cricket??
Location: Rockingham, Western Australia
March 10, 2012 6:52 am
Not sure how this got into a box in the corner of a room in my house so far from either outside doors..It was not making the usual clicking noises and i heard it scrapping in the cardboard box…
I have never seen this bug before.
Signature: Rockingham, Western Australia
Mole Cricket
Dear Rockingham,
You are correct. This is a Mole Cricket.
creepy crawler unidentified
Location: Horjul, Slovenia, EU
January 31, 2012 8:21 am
Found this thing trying to eat my hardwood floor! The noise was so loud it woke me up – he was under my bed.
Signature: Creepy Crawler in Slovenia
Mole Cricket
Dear Creepy Crawler in Slovenia,
You had an encounter with a Mole Cricket, a harmless subterranean dweller that generally attracts attention when it surfaces. Some species are capable of flying and they are attracted to lights, which might explain the presence in your home. Since it is time for us to select a Bug of the Month for February, we are posting your letter and photo in that position. Though we don’t get many identification requests from Slovenia, we do get identification requests for Mole Crickets from many parts of the planet, including Australia, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
Cool! Thanks. I came across your website years ago already but it was not until now that I found the pictures and so I sent them to you immediately so I wouldn’t forget again.
Best regards from Slovenia!
Daniel
Another Mole Cricket
Cockroach thing
Location: Newcastle, NSW, Australia
January 31, 2012 3:09 am
Hi,
I found this thing crawling across my floor the other day. It was about 2.5 inches long, thought it was a cockroach at first. I have no idea what it is. i have recently had a lot of those ants with wings appear in the kitchen when i got back from holiday, could this be the thing that lays those eggs? sorry if the picture is a bit blurry.
Signature: Justin
Mole Cricket
Hi Justin,
We just posted another letter from Slovenia of a Mole Cricket and we made it the Bug of the Month for February. We are adding your letter and photo to that posting. We get many Mole Cricket identification requests from Australia and you can see additional information on the Brisbane Insect website.
Grasshopper or Cricket?
Location: Portugal
January 23, 2012 6:21 am
Dear WTB,
This little fellow was drowning in the pool… I rescued him and he was very kind to let me take a shot.
He is missing one of his horns.
This was taken in plain Summer, August.
Signature: Diogo Ferreira
Cricket from Portugal
Hi again Diogo,
This is indeed a Cricket, and the coloration is somewhat unusual, but we haven’t had any luck finding any matching photos on the internet. The web search produced many more hits of the sport with the same name. What you have called horns are actually sensory organs known as antennae. Also, we believe your “he” is a she. Though the depth of field is quite shallow and the rear portion of the body is not clearly visible, it appears that there is a stingerlike ovipositor, the egg laying organ of many insects including Crickets.
Update: Thanks to Cesar Crash for finding a link to Gryllus campestris, which looks very much like the Cricket in question.
Dear Daniel,
Thank you once again for all of your help.
You’re site is amazing as well as all the detailed information about bugs.
I didn’t realize indeed that it was a she!
Thank’s for all,
Diogo Ferreira
You are welcome Diogo,
Please read Cesar Crash’s comment to this posting on gender and nouns in Portuguese.
¶ Posted 24 January 2012 § ‡ ° WTF
Location: Long Island NY
December 11, 2011 4:08 pm
Hey! So we found these creepy lil suckers in the basement of a Long Island home that has a back and frontyard. To me, it looks like the offspring of a spider, cricket and a bee. Any thoughts?
Signature: Sleeping with a Flashlight
Camel Crickets
Dear Sleeping with a Flashlight,
We didn’t have any new letters to post today, so we turned to our backlog of unanswered questions. Your letter arrived just prior to the end of the semester and holiday rush, and we didn’t have a chance to respond in a timely manner. It seems you might have an infestation of Camel Crickets in your basement. Camel Crickets are basically harmless creatures that will not bite you or your pets, but they may do minor damage to stored items if they get plentiful. According to BugGuide, the best way to get rid of them is to remove their habitat, piles of clutter including logs and boards that might be in the basement. Also reducing the humidity will make the basement inhospitable.
Camel Crickets
Spider like bug
Location: Hampton, VA
December 21, 2011 11:29 am
Hey WTB! I love you guys! I always go to your site to find out what bugs I find crawling around my house! Especially since I’m military and move a lot.
Well I just moved to Virginia and I found this bug that I’ve seen about 3 times around the outside of the house. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I thought it was a type of spider at first but it has features of a cricket as well. When I went to push it outside of my porch it jumped too like a cricket. I tried to take a couple pictures but since we just moved all I had on me was my phone so sorry for the bad pictures. Hope you can figure it out. I have a small dog and a 3 year old daughter so I wanna make sure this thing isn’t poisonous or bites. Thanks again!
Signature: David Ivey
Camel Cricket
Dear David,
Many of our identification requests come from members of the military who are serving in foreign lands. This is a Camel Cricket (so named because of the humped back) or Cave Cricket (a name referring to preferred habitat) in the family Rhaphidophoridae. They are often found in damp, dark places like basements. We have gotten numerous identification requests for Camel Crickets from the eastern United States in the past two months, leading us to believe that populations may be on the increase. BugGuide provides this bit of information: “Feed on leaf debris. In houses may chew on paper products, occasionally fabric.” BugGuide also has this advice: “If these occur in a house the best treatment is to remove them and their breeding habitat – cool moist dark places such as piles of logs or boards in basements. A clean dry home will not be a welcoming place for these guys. Although they are scary-looking they are basically harmless to humans, except perhaps for minor damage to stored items, and are easily discouraged by eliminating the dark damp habitat they prefer.”
¶ Posted 22 December 2011 § ‡ ° Pillbug/cricket hybrid?
Location: Silver Spring, MD
December 15, 2011 1:13 pm
Opened the shed in late November in suburban MD, and saw this just hanging out, waving its antennae at me. I didn’t get too close with the camera for fear of scaring it into jumping at me. What could this possibly be?
Signature: R in DC
Belay that WTB!
Location: Silver Spring, MD
December 15, 2011 1:21 pm
I just looked a bit more on your site, and found my answer – sorry to take up more of your time. Though maybe you liked my picture.
Thanks!
Signature: R in DC
Camel Cricket
Dear R in DC,
We are happy to learn that it only took you eight minutes to identify your Camel Cricket or Cave Cricket, if that is actually the identification you discovered. We have gotten numerous requests to identify Camel Crickets in the past few week. Perhaps their populations are on the rise or perhaps winter is just the best season for encounters.
¶ Posted 16 December 2011 § ‡ ° 
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