Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa

Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)(Europe)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Orthoptera
Suborder:	Ensifera
Family:	Gryllotalpidae
Genus:	Gryllotalpa
Species:	G. gryllotalpa
Binomial name
	Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
	Acheta gryllotalpa ( Linnaeus 1758); Gryllotalpa vulgaris Latreille 1804; Gryllus gryllotalpa Linnaeus 1758; Gryllus talpa Olivier 1791

Close-Up of a Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa

Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa, commonly known as the European mole cricket, is widespread in Europe and has been introduced to the eastern United States. Its scientific name is derived from the Latin 'gryllus' (cricket); and 'talpa' (mole), because of the fine dense fur which covers it and its subterranean habits,^[2] and because of the mole-like forelegs adapted for digging, a good example of convergent evolution.

Description

The body length is about 50 millimetres (2.0 in) in males and 70 millimetres (2.8 in) in females. The cricket is dark brown with a silky shimmer and yellowish underside and is covered with fine velvety hairs. The forelegs are powerful and modified for digging. The elytra are half the length of the abdomen and the wings are transparent and netted with veins. They are folded into pleats and seldom used as the cricket normally remains below the ground.^[3] The males can be distinguished from the females by the open vein area in the forewing known as the 'harp' while the females lack the external ovipositor that is possessed by other crickets.^[2]

Range and habitat

This mole cricket occurs throughout much of the Western

Gryllotalpidae

includes several similar species.

Biology

The female cricket lays 100 to 350

European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europeaeus).^[2] Natural enemies include rooks, starlings and other birds, shrews, moles, ants, ground beetles, nematodes and mites. During winters interrupted by thaws, fungal diseases may cause mass deaths.^[3]

Economic significance

This cricket feeds on a wide range of crops and disturbs the soil with its burrowing activities. In countries where it is abundant it is considered a pest as it damages cereals, legumes, perennial grasses, potatoes, vegetable crops, beet, sunflower, tobacco, hemp, flax and strawberry. It also is troublesome in nurseries where young plants may be killed, and damages the roots of vines, fruit and other trees. Control measures may include deep autumn plowing, treatments of the soil between rows of crops, trapping during the winter, pesticides, poison baits and soil fumigation.^[3]

Conservation

Status (UK)

Although relatively common in many parts of mainland Europe, in the United Kingdom G. gryllotalpa is considered endangered as there have been only four confirmed sightings between 1970 and 2001.^[2] It used to occur in 33 vice-counties, mainly across Southern England but also in South Wales, western Scotland and Northern Ireland. Its range has contracted although there has been a confirmed sighting in the Findhorn Hinterlands, Scotland. There is an action plan that aims to maintain any surviving colonies, establish a captive breeding programme and establish self-sustaining colonies throughout its former range.^[5]

In 2014, a colony of mole crickets was found persisting in the New Forest.^[6]