Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
Clickable Guide
Interactive image map to choose major taxa Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids (Orthoptera) » Long-horned Orthoptera (Ensifera) » Crickets (Gryllidea) » Mole Crickets (Gryllotalpidae) » Gryllotalpa

Genus Gryllotalpa

Representative Images

Gryllotalpa major - Prairie mole cricket - Gryllotalpa major - male Strangest bug I've ever seen - Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Putnam County, NY. Found late in the day on a dirt road. - Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Unidentified bug - Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Possible Underground mole or camel Cricket - Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Northern Mole Cricket - Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids)
Suborder Ensifera (Long-horned Orthoptera)
Infraorder Gryllidea (Crickets)
Family Gryllotalpidae (Mole Crickets)
Genus Gryllotalpa

Explanation of Names

Gryllotalpa Latreille 1802
from Latin gryllus 'cricket' + talpa 'mole'

Numbers

3 spp. in our area, ~80 total(1)

Identification

easily distinguished from Neocurtilla by the costal area of the tegmen ('lateral field'): in Gryllotalpa all the veins are directed apically, whereas in Neocurtilla the distalmost veins are directed towards the base. --Sam W. Heads, 28.iii.2008

Range

much of the world(1); in our area:
G. gryllotalpa [introduced] downstate NY
G. major relic tallgrass prairies in KS, OK, MS, AR
G. cultriger CA & TX (only 3 specimens known from the US); Mexico

Works Cited

1.Orthoptera Species File Online
Contributed by john and jane balaban on 30 March, 2008 - 3:01pm
Additional contributions by v belov, metrioptera
Last updated 9 October, 2025 - 12:01pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact