Cave cricket

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Cave & Camel crickets

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Subclass:	Pterygota
Infraclass:	Neoptera
Superorder:	Exopterygota
Order:	Orthoptera
Suborder:	Ensifera
Superfamily:	Rhaphidophoroidea
Family:	Rhaphidophoridae
Subfamily:	Ceuthophilinae

Genera

Ceuthophilus
Macrobaenetes
many others

Cave crickets also known as Camel crickets or Spider Crickets or even "sprickets" are orthopteroid insects of the family Rhaphidophoridae which are found in association with caves. Those occurring in New Zealand, Australia, and surrounding environs are typically referred to as Cave Wetas, and belong in a different subfamily (see link). The most common and well-known species outside of Australia are those of the subfamily Ceuthophilinae, which also includes the Sand treaders (genus Macrobaenetes and allies).^{[citation needed]}

The well-known field crickets are from a different superfamily (Grylloidea) and only look vaguely similar. Cave crickets have very large hind legs with "drumstick-shaped" femura and long, slender antennae. They are brownish in color and rather humpbacked in appearance, always wingless, and up to one inch long. As the name implies, cave crickets are commonly found in caves. However, most species live in other cool, damp situations such as in wells, rotten logs, stumps and hollow trees, and under damp leaves, stones, boards, and logs. The group known as "Sand treaders" are restricted to sand dunes, however, and are adapted to live in this environment; they are active only at night, and spend the day burrowed into the sand, to minimize water loss. They are pale, sand-colored insects, and their legs are modified with strong bristles for rapid digging.^{[citation needed]}

Their distinctive limbs and antennae serve a double purpose. Typically living in a lightless environment, or active at night, they rely heavily on their sense of touch, which is limited by reach. While they have been known to take up residence in the basements of buildings, many cave crickets live out their entire lives deep inside actual caves. In those habitats they sometimes face long spans of time with insufficient access to nutrients. To avoid starvation, they have been known to devour their own extremities, even though they cannot regenerate limbs. Given their limited vision, cave crickets will often jump towards any perceived threat in an attempt to frighten it away. Their large hind legs allow them to jump high and far.^{[citation needed]}

Cave and camel crickets are of little economic importance except as a nuisance in buildings and homes, especially basements. They are usually "accidental invaders" that wander in by mistake from adjacent areas. They generally do not reproduce indoors, except in situations that provide continuous dark, moist conditions as well as organic debris to serve as food.

In November of 2006, a woman from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, was bitten by a cave cricket. She then suffered through over 100 infections, including staph infection and gangrene, which, after 3 months and 13 surgeries, had started taking over faster than they could be treated. The lady passed away in late February of 2007, over 3 months after the initial bite.[1]

[edit] In Popular Culture

In The Anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya the cave cricket appears as a data life form that attacks the protagonists in an alternative reality, though apart from its appearance and name, it has little in common with the insect.

[edit] Elimination

Control efforts for camel crickets should include one or more of the below measures.

Cultural:

Eliminate suitable breeding and hiding sites outdoors around the house or building. Piles of bricks, stones, boards, leaves, etc., should be removed.
Change outdoor lighting to yellow or sodium vapor bulbs

Mechanical/Physical

Do Not Pick up and discard individual crickets.
Hit insect with fly swatter or crush with shoe.
Sweep with vacuum cleaner
Use glue boards or other sticky traps, e.g., fly paper or upturned strips of duct tape. Shoe boxes with sideholes and pasted with depilation wax inside also work.
Seal or screen entry points: cracks and gaps in foundation of building or siding or around windows and doors should be sealed.

Chemical

If there is a breeding population and chemical control is desired, spray a residual barrier of diazinon, Dursban or Sevin insecticide around the outside of the house. This may be of benefit if you apply sufficient spray to reach breeding sites. It should be repeated monthly or bimonthly.
Spray household with "ant and cockroach" insecticide in floor areas where camel crickets hide or are seen; this is a last resort of limited benefit.
Insecticide granules.

Biological:

Use predator and parasitic insects: House centipedes are a natural predatory form of control, but most homeowners are uncomfortable having them around, despite their beneficial nature.^{[citation needed]}