Wierd Bug in eastern NC
November 19, 2009
I am trying to figure out what this is. I have only seen one other like it. Up close, it looks like it has a lobsters head, mole paws and the features of a grasshopper. Soo strange. What is it and what does it do/eat?
Dawn
Eastern NC

Mole Cricket

Hi Dawn,
This is a Mole Cricket, so your description of the mole paws is quite accurate.  Additionally, Mole Crickets are in the same insect order as Grasshoppers, and since they are both Orthopterans, that observation was also quite keen.  Mole Crickets are subterranean diggers.

Camel Cricket–alive and kicking!
October 26, 2009
Hi WTB–
My cat was harassing this cool bug as it tried to hide out under our baseboard radiator. (We had a Western Conifer Seed Bug in the same area the other day–I think they come in through the track of the sliding door nearby.) At first I thought it was a regular cricket. When I went to rescue it, I found that it something else entirely. I caught it under a glass, snapped a few pictures, and then tossed it back outside into the cool and rainy evening.
The more I looked at this bug, the cooler it seemed to be. I guess it’s a female based on those three huge prongs on her back end. Such a great and complex face! So many little barbs and stickers! Amazing three-toed feet! She was pretty cooperative with the photo session–she mostly held still, except she groomed her long antennae using her paddle-like facial appendages (are those called palps?).
JJR
Setauket, NY (North Shore of Long Island)

Camel Cricket

Dear JJR,
Since we recently posted an image of dead Camel Crickets caught in a sticky trap, your photo is much more welcomed.  We believe the mouthpart to which you refer is the maxillary palpus or feeler.  Seems she is covered in hair and dust and needs to do a bit of grooming.

Camel Cricket

Third try for pink/red grasshopper
September 23, 2009
We found this grasshopper inside our WV house in late October– I haven’t found it on your site, or elsewhere, and I think it’s very pretty! Can you help?
Jessica
Morgantown, WV

Two Spotted Tree Cricket

Hi Jessica,
Thanks for your persistence.  We wish we had the time to answer all of our mail, especially since we realize how very important it is to our readership to have their letter recognized and perhaps even posted online.  This appears to be a Smooth Legged Tree Cricket in the genus Neoxabea, the Two Spotted Tree Cricket, Neoxabea bipunctata.  According to BugGuide, your specimen is a male which is described as:  “The male is a paler color — red tinged head and pronotum, pale pink-tinged wings and pale flesh-toned limbs.  The male Neoxabea is the only TC male whose wings wrap down the sides of the body (like those of the female) — Oecanthus species males have paddle-shaped wings that lay atop their body.“  BugGuide also indicates:  “Males sing mostly at night: a 10-second trill followed by several seconds of silence, then a trill again. After mating, male hangs downward from foliage, allowing female to hang on beneath and dine on secretions from his thorax (1).”

Two Spotted Tree Cricket

Thank you so much!  I’m glad my persistence paid off and didn’t come off as pestering.

We appreciate that you actually sent your information as well as attaching the photos on your subsequent submissions.  Often people will just send a followup query with no photos and we cannot take the time to search the mailbox for their original letters.

Two mystery bugs
September 21, 2009
Bug #1 – Brown, six legged with wings and looks to be a stinger. About 2 inches long. Found dead on our driveway.
Bug #2 – Brown and white spotted bugs with orange spots almost like a lady bug. Found on our althea red heart hibiscus buds.
Heather Korn
West Tennessee

Mole Cricket

Dear Heather,
We frown on unrelated insects in the same posting as it compromises our archiving process, so we will address Bug #2 separately.  We have gotten numerous requests worldwide recently for Mole Cricket identifications.  We have responded to some without posting the images and your photo is quite nice, so we have decided it is time to post a new image of a Mole Cricket on our site.  Mole Crickets are found underground and some species are capable of flight.

Hi and thanks for the information. I apologize for posting unrelated insects in the same posting and will remember not to do so in the future. Your answers are very helpful and informative, I appreciate it.
Thanks again for your time and have a great day.

Two-Spotted Tree Cricket
August 13, 2009
i too live in Ohio, near Dayton. just last night, i found a male two-spotted tree cricket on my kitchen blinds. i searched the internet in hopes to identify it, and found my answer here. my cricket had the same body, but was different in color – light all over with red eyes! i don’t see where I can upload a pic to show you, but thanks for the help!
betsy

Tree Cricket

Hi Betsy,
We cannot be certain that this is a Two Spotted Tree Cricket, but it is definitely some species of Tree Cricket.

Did we stump you
August 8, 2009
Haven’t heard back..Did I stump you?
Bian
New Jersey

Handsome Trig

Hi Bian,
We did not see your identification request the first time you sent it.  We consulted with Eric Eaton on this and his response is:  “Daniel:  Ok, the cricket is a nymph of a female redheaded bush cricket, Phyllopalpus pulchellus.  Nice image.  They really are a gaudy insect, especially when they are young:-)  Eric“  We are linking to the Bugguide information page on the Red Headed Bush Cricket which is also called the Handsome Trig.  We have a vague recollection of that unusual name being in the news recently with regards to the national elections.