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

Suborder Grylloblattodea - Rock Crawlers

Ant-like insect - Grylloblatta Ant/termite-like insect - Grylloblatta Grylloblata campodeiformis  - Grylloblatta campodeiformis Grylloblatta chirurgica - female Grylloblatta chirurgica - female Grylloblattid - Grylloblatta Notoptera  - Grylloblatta Notoptera  - Grylloblatta
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Notoptera (Rock Crawlers)
Suborder Grylloblattodea (Rock Crawlers)
Other Common Names
Ice Bug, Ice Crawler
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Notoptera, Grylloblattida
Numbers
close to 30 spp./sspp. (mostly undescribed) in our area (all Grylloblatta)(1); the second smallest insect order, with 32 described spp. in 5 genera total(2)
Size
15-30 mm
Identification
Slender, elongate; yellowish brown to gray in color. Wingless. Antennae long and filiform with 28 to 50 segments. Cerci long with 8 segments. Ovipositor sword shaped.
Larvae and adults may be confused with some crickets or with the phasmid genus Timema
Range
Japan, Siberia, nw. US & w. Canada
Habitat
High elevations, under rocks, at the edge of snow fields or on ice caves and in moss.
Food
Probably predaceous or feed on debris of other insects
Life Cycle
Poorly known. They take several years to mature.
Has 8 larval stages.(3)
Remarks
Active at rather low temperatures. Mostly nocturnal. They hide during the day, particularly when the temperature is above freezing.
Internet References
Overview (Meyer 2009)
Works Cited
1.Updated checklist of the ice-crawlers (Insecta: Grylloblattodea: Grylloblattidae) of North America...
Schoville S.D., Graening G.O. 2013. Zootaxa 3737: 351-378.
2.Ice crawlers (Grylloblattodea) – the history of the investigation of a highly unusual group of insects
Wipfler B., Bai M., Schoville S., Dallai R., Uchifune T., Machida R., Cui Y., Beutel R.G. 2014. Journal of Insect Diversity 2: 1-25.
3.The Insects : Structure and Function
R. F. Chapman. 1998. Cambridge University Press.