Insect of the week (October 14, 2024) is the northern mole cricket – Neocurtilla hexadactyla (Perty, 1832). This native Orthopteran species is placed in the family Gryllotalpidae. The specimen in this photograph was collected by our former member, Gordon Adams, near Sparland in 1969. It is thought this species requires two years (from egg to adult). Male northern mole crickets call from the bottom of a burrow (using the burrow to amplify their mating song). Females travel to meet the calling male.

A wasp species,Larra analis (Hymenoptera: Crabrionidae), deposits eggs on mole crickets in their burrow. The cricket tries to thwart the wasp by ejecting sticky slime. If the wasp evades the slime, it paralyzes the mole cricket with venom delivered via multiple stings. The female wasp then deposits an egg on the mole cricket. Although the mole cricket appears to recover, the damage has been done and the wasp larva eventually consumes its host.

Although this species has been reported from South America, it is likely not native there. It has been recorded from southern Canada and most of the eastern United States (as far south as peninsular Florida). As you can see from the front legs, the common name is well deserved.