Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa (Linnaeus, 1758)

Mole Cricket

Taxonomy: 

  • Orthoptera›Ensifera›Grylloidea›Gryllotalpidae›Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa

Status: 

UK

Distribution

Recordings

  • Calling song.

Colours show the year of the last record -

  up to 1987   1988-97   1998 up to present

Only Recording Scheme datasets are included. Other datasets on the Gateway may hold additional information.

Open the NBN Atlas interactive map in a new window.

Description: 

Large cricket, light chestnut coloured and covered with velvet-like hairs; large, very strong forelegs that are modified for digging.

Size: 

35-46 mm

Wings: 

Forewings are short but both sexes can fly and do so at night.

Stridulation: 

Male stridulation is a loud continuous purring.

Food: 

Vegetable material, insect larvae and earthworms.

Habitat: 

Burrows into deep, loose damp soil at the edges of wetlands and seepages.

Phenology: 

Three year lifecycle.