Mole Cricket: Mutant Demon Bug From the Underworld?
No, it’s just a mole cricket, a common subterranean insect that most people have never seen before. I wish I had known about these (and knew how to acquire them in the quantities I needed) back when I used to raise omnivorous reptiles.
Mole Cricket
Resembling large brown grasshoppers with a crayfish-like thorax, the mole cricket is a thick-bodied insect with distinctive spade-like forearms, giving it a formidable appearance. These forearms are used for digging their subterranean tunnels and nests. They can fly as much as 8 kilometers when seeking a mate. At 1 ½ to 2-inches long, if you ever saw one you’d surely remember it! Quite a bit larger than an average cricket, these would have been a valuable food supplement for my reptiles!
Mole Crickets!
Image via Wikipedia
Mole crickets spend most of their life underground or well hidden. They are omnivores and will feed upon worms, the larvae of other insects and whatever else they find. They also eat plant matter such as roots and grasses. They are prey to common birds and mammals such as rats, skunks, foxes, and armadillos, etc. As a insect that eats carrion and other leavings, they might also be harbor natural but unhealthful things such as bacteria and parasites. Cats or dogs will find and eat these insects then they can get a case of pinworms, parasites which is treated by an over-the-counter medicine (for livestock, pets) called “Panacur.” One would normally have the animal diagnosed by a veterinary to determine that they have in fact, been so infected. Typically, weight-loss, lethargy and watery/shiny excreta are the immediate visible symptoms.
A Possible Parasite Problem
I used to raise Australian Bearded Dragons and they would from time to time get pinworms. Once this was traced to a shipment of infected crickets but usually it was traced to the necessary feeding of juvenile ‘hairy mice’ to the animal. Such is the need for a post egg-laying female who needs to quickly build back her mass.
Pinworms are present in the feces of adult mice but not in ‘pinkie mice.’ What happens is that as a ‘pinkie mouse’ is born parasite-free, but as it begins to forage and nibble they inevitably will ingest minute traces of fecal matter from an adult conspecific (any member of the same specie) and thus, they too become the vector. Pinworms might also be found in the guts of crickets and I would surmise that mole crickets are no better than ‘normal’ crickets in this regard. Since mole crickets and wild mice share the same habitat, I would associate the two with pinworm (also called ‘threadworm’) infestation risk.
Pinworm infestation in humans is not dangerous and is usually confined entirely to the intestinal tract, but it can cause rectal itching that is most notably at night. A simple test euphemistically known as the ‘Scotch tape test’ can be done by any physician; the sticky side of the tape is pressed against the peri-anal skin and under a microscope is examined for pinworm eggs.
For people, a different medicine is prescribed than for stock animals (again, an over-the-counter remedy I believe) which usually if effective some 95% of the time. The medicine does not eradicate the eggs of the pinworm so a follow-up treatment is often required as they eggs might hatch into the next generation of pinworms and they need to be eradicated too. Often it is necessary and advised to treat the entire family if even just one family member is diagnosed with pinworms. They can spread to clothing and through personal touching and thus, to other family members.
Wash your hands after touching or playing with dogs, cats or reptiles, folks! You can pick up pinworm eggs under your fingernails and the next time you put your fingers to your mouth (or touch your eyes, nose, anus or vagina) you could possibly pass these nasty things along to their new home. Pinworm infestations tend to be limited to the intestinal tract only and not survive well or long in other organs or in the bloodstream, but they can sometimes get there and do damage. Washing your hands after playing with the family pet is still pretty cheap insurance.
Mole Cricket on Carpet
Mole crickets exist on every continent except Antarctica, so just because you have not ever seen one does not mean that they are not there. Nocturnal and secretive, they live underground most of their lives. In some countries, mole crickets are even used a protein source where they are fried and served regularly as food.
Mole Cricket Close-Up
Mole crickets are generally considered to be a pest, damaging crops such as potatoes, turnips, peanuts and grasses. There are different species of mole crickets (with some ten different species in America alone) and noted is a West Indian specie that is cited to be particularly harmful to the roots of sugarcane plants. Apart from the nibbling of plant roots, their tunneling loosens the soil and causes the root system to dry out which is damaging to the plant.
Image via Wikipedia
Mole crickets prefer slightly sand soil which is why they are often discovered to be resident upon golf courses. There, they leave telltale evidence; little mounds and ridges of the soil that they have excavated. Here, they need to be treated as ground pests and there are insecticides to deal with this. Not only does killing them stop their damage to the golf course, but their absence also means that there would less (or no?) nighttime foraging by skunks, raccoons, etc. digging the grassy course seeking these insect creatures, themselves causing even more damage.
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34 Responses to “Mole Cricket: Mutant Demon Bug From the Underworld?”
On March 8, 2009 at 1:49 am
quite interesting…
On March 8, 2009 at 3:06 am
HI,
I THINK THIS IS A UNIQUE AND INTERESTING ARTICLE AND I WILL HAVE TO REMEMBER THESE LITTLE CREATURES WHEN I FIND ONE SOMEWHERE. I HAVE LOTS OF INTERESTS IN ALL KINDS OF ANIMALS AND INSECTS SO I THINK THIS IS PRETTY COOL.
On March 8, 2009 at 3:33 am
Yuk! Interesting but yuk
On March 8, 2009 at 4:15 am
creepy. eewwww
On March 8, 2009 at 4:47 am
A truly bizarre creature. I would not like to come across one at all, despite my usual affinity to bugs and studd that make others go ew…
I have blogged this cool article
http://www.webphemera.com/2009/03/mole-cricket-mutant-demon-bug-from.html
On March 8, 2009 at 10:08 am
Another interesting article stickman. Well done.
On March 8, 2009 at 11:06 am
wow this is very interesting man maybe god sdoing this to infect the human a sinkness to destroy us human whe are so stupid humans!!
On March 8, 2009 at 1:24 pm
-huh?!
On March 8, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Eww crikey! I don’t like crickets… Of all the bugs in the world, and these little critters have to freak me out. I’m okay with spiders, and if I see a scorpion, I’m okay, but crickets… aghhh! Lol! Interesting article though.
On March 8, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Now THAT is a wee beastie I wouldn’t particularly enjoy waking up to find. Not necessarily disgusting, but a little unnerving, nonetheless.
On March 8, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Is it me or does this odd looking creature look like a lobster mated with a roach? I ve never seen one, and really hope that I never do. You used to raise reptiles……brave man. I am terrified of them.
On March 8, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I love it!! What a great bug. Nature should always be applauded for its amazing diversity!
On March 8, 2009 at 8:53 pm
I had never heard of them but they have probaly eaten my garden veggies and I thought it voles.
On March 9, 2009 at 12:09 am
this is unique and an interesting one.
On March 9, 2009 at 12:14 am
That thing is weird. That’s all I got! lol
On March 9, 2009 at 12:29 am
thats one wierd animal!
On March 9, 2009 at 3:29 am
Wouldn’t want to find one of those crawling up my pant leg !!
Great article
On March 9, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Very…ah…informative post
On March 9, 2009 at 10:35 pm
excellent article, and you are right-mole crickets are eaten. it’s a delicacy in the Philippines.see it here
http://www.trifter.com/Practical-Travel/World-Cuisine/The-17-Most-Popular-Exotic-Foods-in-the-Philippines.111641
thanks
On March 10, 2009 at 7:46 am
talk about a weird looking insect, these are actually one of the larger species of cricket, next to the weta and parktown prawn. I wouldn’t mind seeing one for myself, although I probably wouldn’t recognize the little bugger.
On March 10, 2009 at 8:29 am
That is just ugly … sorry … anything more then 4 legs I have a problem with! but an interesting post — thanks! Cheers~
On March 10, 2009 at 4:02 pm
this little bugger is news to me… never even heard of it to be honest and I hear of most things.. good work stickman
On March 11, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Thanks for the info. I saw my first ones after I moved to Florida. Fascinating creatures to watch too!
On March 11, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Excellent! That was fantastic story abt crickets..I loved it! I always enjoyed reading your works..You have a lot of great ideas. Well done and Thanks 4 sharing
On March 12, 2009 at 3:14 am
Thanks for posting useful article.
It really amazing cricket.
On March 12, 2009 at 4:54 am
Like the photo of the one on the carpet but they are pretty yuck other than that! Informative and entertaining article.
On March 12, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Geeezzzz LOUISE!!! Those are scary……that was such a good read that I almost felt them crawling around in my shirt…….lol
On March 22, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Wow! A long line of comments this is…:D
Stickman, another interesting read…I will definitely stumble this/share on Facebook!
Excellent work! “Creepy crawlers,” but fascinating.
-Fresh Writing
On March 23, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I HATE THESE!! AHH! they always attack me.. jus got attacked by one in my lounge :/ so had to look them up incase they can bite or something… they look evil..
On March 30, 2009 at 10:06 am
Great article. I have seen these in West Palm Beach where I live. I think these creatures are alien looking. I tried to touch one once and it actually moved as if to attack me. Nasty little creature.
On April 27, 2009 at 4:48 pm
We see these things all the time in Iraq and for the longest time we had no idea what they were. They sure are ugly but at least they’re not Camel Spiders!
On April 28, 2009 at 1:45 pm
what the hell is these about
On April 28, 2009 at 1:47 pm
what kinds of thing is thise
On June 9, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Ugly bastard to be sure.
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