Common name - Camel crickets.
Habitat - Camel crickets are nocturnal. During the day they hide in damp places, usually under rocks or logs (Blatchley, 1920).
Description - thick-bodied and wingless. Back is arched. Head is large, oval and bent backward between the front legs. Antennae are long and slender, tapering to a fine point. Eyes are somewhat pear shaped, the narrow end downward. Front and middle femora are slender and short. Hind femora are thick and bowed inward slightly. Anal cerci usually are hairy (Blatchley, 1920).
Oviposition - eggs are deposited in the ground (Blatchley, 1920).
Seasonal history - eggs overwinter and hatch in April (Blatchley, 1920).
Common species of camel crickets:
Udeopsylla robusta (Haldeman) - the Robust camel cricket. General color black, brown or mottled brown. Commonly found in burrows it digs under rocks and logs. Sometimes found on plowed ground at dawn, dusk or on cloudy days. Inhabits the plains of eastern Colorado (Hebard, 1 929-1 Helfer, 1972).
Daihnia brevipes Haldeman - the Great Plains camel cricket. General color is dark brown. Heavily built. Lives under rocks and in rodent burrows throughout the Great Plains (Helfer, 1972).
Ceuthophilus utahensis Thomas - the Utah camel cricket. General color is yellowish-brown with faint patterning and a banded abdomen. Inhabits open aspen and conifer woods. Lives under rocks, bark and in holes. Often found in basements and in wells. Can become a health problem by polluting well water with their dead bodies (Helfer, 1972).
Ceuthophilus fusiformis Scudder - the Fusiform camel cricket. General color is brownish or straw colored. Sometimes patterned with black. Common on grasslands and in the mountains above timberline. They occur on the ground, in rodent burrows and among sedges in swampy areas. Adults are present from March to December (Hebard, 1929; Helfer, 1972).
Ceuthophilus alpinus Scudder - inhabits the mountains up to 13,000 feet (Anderson, 1941).
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Previous Species: Camnula pellucida
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