European Mole Cricket
The European mole cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa) is a stout, velvety brown insect with huge digging forelegs, which spends most of its life underground. Like true moles, it tunnels through soil.
The European mole cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa) is a stout, velvety brown insect with huge digging forelegs, which spends most of its life underground. Like true moles, it tunnels through soil.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open European Mole Cricket in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Ecdysozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Convergent on a Mole
The front legs are broad, shovel-like and toothed, similar to the forelimbs of a mole, an example of convergent evolution for digging. The animal tunnels through the soil just below the surface, eating roots and soil invertebrates.
A Burrow Shaped Like a Horn
Males sing from the entrance of a specially shaped burrow whose horn-like form amplifies the sound. The call carries far and attracts females at night. See Southern Marsupial Mole.
Night Flights
Despite their burrowing life, the crickets can fly at night. In many European countries they have declined and are protected, because of drainage and soil pollution.
European Mole Cricket at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Class | Insecta |
| Order | Orthoptera |
| Family | Gryllotalpidae |
| Field Guide group | Ecdysozoa: Hexapoda (Insects) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Velvety brown burrower with shovel-like front legs; males sing from tunnels shaped like a megaphone. |
| IUCN Red List status | Least Concern (LC), assessed 2016 |
| Order | Orthoptera |
| Forelegs | Shovel-like for digging |
See Also
- Southern Marsupial Mole — a convergent burrower
- Great Green Bush-cricket — another singing orthopteran