Subject: What’s this big Moroccan bug?
Location: Morocco
May 31, 2017 3:17 pm
Hi Bugman,
Can you help identify and tell me more about this bug? It was huge and looked like a grenade with legs!
Spotted in Morocco and the locals call it a Black Bettle.
Look forward to your opinion!
Thanks,
Signature: Pilot Pete
Dear Pilot Pete,
We found this old posting from our archives that Katydid expert Piotr Naskrecki identified as being in the genus Eugaster, but that is a black individual and your individual is much lighter. Based on images posted to Orthoptera Species File, we believe your individual is Eugaster spinulosa. There is some amusing information on Revolvy, including: “It is known as the whistle cricket, because herdsmen would dry it and pull off its legs, in order to use the cricket as a whistle.”