Jerusalem cricket

Jerusalem crickets (or potato bugs)[2][3][4] are a group of large, flightless insects of the genus Stenopelmatus. They are native to the western United States and parts of Mexico.

"Child of the earth" redirects here. For other uses, see Children of the earth.

Jerusalem cricket
Stenopelmatus fuscus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Hexapoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Orthoptera
Superfamily:
Stenopelmatoidea
Family:
Stenopelmatidae
Subfamily:
Stenopelmatinae
Genus:
Stenopelmatus

Species
  • Stenopelmatus ater Saussure & Pictet, 1897
  • Stenopelmatus cahuilaensis Tinkham, 1968
  • Stenopelmatus calcaratus Griffini, 1893
  • Stenopelmatus fuscus Haldeman, 1852
  • Stenopelmatus guatemalae Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888
  • Stenopelmatus histrio Saussure, 1859
  • Stenopelmatus intermedius Davis & Smith, 1926
  • Stenopelmatus lessonae Griffini, 1893
  • Stenopelmatus longispina Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888
  • Stenopelmatus lycosoides Walker, 1869
  • Stenopelmatus mescaleroensis Tinkham, 1979
  • Stenopelmatus minor Saussure, 1859
  • Stenopelmatus monahansensis Stidham & Stidham, 2001
  • Stenopelmatus navajo Rentz, 1978
  • Stenopelmatus nieti Saussure, 1859
  • Stenopelmatus nigrocapitatus Tinkham & Rentz, 1969
  • Stenopelmatus piceiventris Walker, 1869
  • Stenopelmatus pictus Scudder, 1899
  • Stenopelmatus talpa Burmeister, 1838
  • Stenopelmatus toltecus (Saussure, 1861)
  • Stenopelmatus vicinus Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888
plus numerous unnamed species (>30)

Despite their common names, these insects are neither true crickets (which belong to the family Gryllidae) nor true bugs (which belong to the order Hemiptera), nor are they native to Jerusalem. These nocturnal insects use their strong mandibles to feed primarily on dead organic matter but can also eat other insects.[5] Their highly adapted feet are used for burrowing beneath moist soil to feed on decaying root plants and tubers.

While Jerusalem crickets are not venomous, they can emit a foul smell and are capable of inflicting a painful bite.

Classification

There are 20 described species in the genus Stenopelmatus,[6] and at least 30 more as yet undescribed.[7] The family Stenopelmatidae contains several Old World genera, but only the genera in the subfamily Stenopelmatinae (all New World) are referred to as Jerusalem crickets. Other families in the same superfamily (Stenopelmatoidea) in Australia and New Zealand include the wētā and king crickets. They are similar to Stenopelmatus in many respects.

Communication
Stenopelmatus fuscus

Similar to true crickets, each species of Jerusalem cricket produces a different song during mating. This song takes the form of a characteristic drumming in which the insect beats its abdomen against the ground.

No species have wings with sound-producing structures; moreover, evidently none has structures it could use to hear sound.[8][9] This contrasts with true crickets and katydids, who use their wings to produce sounds and have hearing organs to sense sounds of others. Jerusalem crickets seem unable to hiss by forcing air through their spiracles, as some beetles and cockroaches do. Instead, the few Jerusalem crickets that do make sound rub their hind legs against the sides of the abdomen, producing a rasping, hissing noise.[7] This hiss may serve to deter predators rather than to communicate with other crickets. For such purposes, Jerusalem crickets rely on substrate vibrations felt by subgenual organs located in all six of the insect's legs.[10]

Names
Mahogany Jerusalem cricket (Stenopelmatus n. sp. "mahogany") next to a 2.4 cm quarter

Several hypotheses attempt to explain the origin of the term "Jerusalem cricket".[11] One suggests the term originated from a mixing of Navajo and Christian terminology, resulting from the strong connection Franciscan priests had with the Navajos in developing their dictionary and vocabulary. Such priests may have heard the Navajos speak of a "skull insect" and took this as a reference to Calvary (also known as Skull Hill) outside Jerusalem near the place where Jesus was crucified.

Several Navajo names refer to the insect's head:[11]

  • c’ic’in lici (Tsiitsʼiin łichíʼí) "red-skull"
  • c’os bic’ic lici (Chʼosh bitsiitsʼiin łichíʼí) "red-skull bug"
  • c’ic’in lici’ I coh (Tsiitsʼiin łichíʼítsoh) "big red-skull"
  • wo se c’ini or rositsini or yo sic’ini (Wóó tsiitsʼiin/Yaaʼ tsiitsʼiiní) "skull insect"

Other names include the Hopi qalatötö ("shiny bug"),[11] the Spanish niño de la tierra ("child of the earth") and cara de niño ("child's face").[11][12]

Jerusalem cricket in its burrow

Size and shape

Female Stenopelmatus talpa, also known as the Mexican Jerusalem cricket, are seen to have larger features than male Stenopelmatus talpa. In the case of prothorax width, prothorax length, fore femur, head size, and mandible lengths, females were larger than males. However, males tended to have larger hind femora compared to females.[13]

References
  1. "Stenopelmatus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  2. "Dark Jerusalem Cricket (Stenopelmatus nigrocapitatus)". Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  3. "Jerusalem Crickets". Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  4. McKenney, Mike; McKenney, Dorothy (2017-09-14). "The Jerusalem Cricket: It's Really Just a Potato Bug". Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  5. Milne, Lorus and Margery (1980) The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, pp. 437. ISBN 0-394-50763-0
  6. Genus Stenopelmatus
  7. Weissman, DB (2001). The Biology of Wetas, King Crickets and Their Allies. Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK: CABI Publishing. pp. 351–375. ISBN 978-0-85199-408-6.
  8. L. Desutter-Grandcolas (2003). "Phylogeny and the evolution of acoustic communication in extant Ensifera (Insecta, Orthoptera)". Zoologica Scripta. 32 (6): 525–561. doi:10.1046/j.1463-6409.2003.00142.x. S2CID 85659457.
  9. Robinson, DJ; Hall, MJ (2002). "Sound Signalling in Orthoptera". Advances in Insect Physiology, Volume 29. Elsevier. pp. 151–278. ISBN 978-0-12-024229-0.
  10. Weissman, DB; Vandergast, AG; Ueshima, N (2008). Encyclopedia of Entomology. Berlin: Springer. pp. 2054–2061. ISBN 978-1-4020-6242-1.
  11. Stoffolano JG, Wright B (2005). "Sö ́sö'öpa—Jerusalem Cricket: An Important Insect in the Hopi Katsina Pantheon". American Entomologist. 51 (3): 174–179. doi:10.1093/ae/51.3.174.
  12. Eaton, Eric R.; Kenn Kaufman (2007). Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. New York: Houghton Mifflin. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-618-15310-7.
  13. Álvarez, Hugo A.; Sánchez-Xolalpa, Dinorah A.; Torre-Anzúres, Josué De la; Jiménez-García, Daniel (September 2017). "Morphometry, Behavior, and Ecology of the Jerusalem Cricket, Stenopelmatus talpa". Southwestern Entomologist. 42 (3): 745–752. doi:10.3958/059.042.0313. S2CID 90924229.
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