# Jerusalem crickets



## AmandaLynn (Aug 13, 2009)

~Ninas de la Tierra~

These are really cool looking, one of my favorite insects. Has anyone ever tried raising them?


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 13, 2009)

got a link? I would like to see them. Orin has some different crickets he raises, but I don't know what they are.


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## cloud jaguar (Aug 13, 2009)

wow, those creep me out. Once when I was a very young kid i was hunting for glass snakes (legless lizards) in my front yard - I shoved my arm up to my shoulder in a hole in the ground and pulled back a handfull of giant, black and hairy mole crickets that scared the pee out of me. Ever since then I have been super creeped out by crickets - especially mole crickets and jerusalem crickets! yech


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## AmandaLynn (Aug 13, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> got a link? I would like to see them. Orin has some different crickets he raises, but I don't know what they are.


I'm not sure how to post a link but I'll give it a try.San Diego Natural History Museum Hmm, well that didn't work. &lt;_&lt; Sorry, I don't know how to post a link, but there are quite a few images on google if you want to check them out.


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## Opivy (Aug 13, 2009)

Very nice museum =)^^^

those things creep me out! are they raised as feeder insects?


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## AmandaLynn (Aug 13, 2009)

Arkanis said:


> wow, those creep me out. Once when I was a very young kid i was hunting for glass snakes (legless lizards) in my front yard - I shoved my arm up to my shoulder in a hole in the ground and pulled back a handfull of giant, black and hairy mole crickets that scared the pee out of me. Ever since then I have been super creeped out by crickets - especially mole crickets and jerusalem crickets! yech


Ack! That would be scary! That is kind of how I feel about weevils... now. I think jerusalem crickets are kinda cute though. I used to find them from time to time around San Diego, but they don't live up north here in Washington.


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## AmandaLynn (Aug 13, 2009)

Opivy said:


> Very nice museum =)^^^those things creep me out! are they raised as feeder insects?


No, I don't think so.


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## Opivy (Aug 13, 2009)

those things are in san diego?! I don't think I'm going to sleep very well anymore =(


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## AmandaLynn (Aug 14, 2009)

Opivy said:


> those things are in san diego?! I don't think I'm going to sleep very well anymore =(


Haha! Don't worry they live underground most of the time, so unless you sleep under a pile of leaf litter, they shouldn't be to much of a bother for you.


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## Katnapper (Aug 14, 2009)

AmandaLynn said:


> Haha! Don't worry they live underground most of the time, so unless you sleep under a pile of leaf litter, they shouldn't be to much of a bother for you.


 :lol:


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## PhilinYuma (Aug 14, 2009)

AmandaLynn said:


> I'm not sure how to post a link but I'll give it a try.San Diego Natural History Museum Hmm, well that didn't work. &lt;_&lt; Sorry, I don't know how to post a link, but there are quite a few images on google if you want to check them out.


This should do it: http://www.sdnhm.org Then type Jerusalem cricket in the search window.


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 14, 2009)

http://www.sdnhm.org/fieldguide/inverts/sten-fus.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_cricket

the first link is not so bad looking but the second, dear me, I now realize I like ticks and leeches!!!


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## ismart (Aug 14, 2009)

Someone should really try and get a breeding colony of them going. They look like they would make some real nice mantid food!


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## Christian (Aug 14, 2009)

Vice versa...


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## PhilinYuma (Aug 14, 2009)

ismart said:


> Someone should really try and get a breeding colony of them going. They look like they would make some real nice mantid food!


The major problem with raising them as food is that the females only lay eggs one a year.


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## ismart (Aug 14, 2009)

Christian said:


> Vice versa...


I really should have looked into them a bit more. I did not realize how big they get! :blink: 



PhilinYuma said:


> The major problem with raising them as food is that the females only lay eggs one a year.


Thanks for the info! It seems like they would make an interesting pet though.


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 14, 2009)

Phil are you serious abot the eggs?


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## PhilinYuma (Aug 14, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> Phil are you serious abot the eggs?


Yep. They lay in the spring and overwinter as adults and then start over again. Our indigenous mantids also have one brood per year, and so do lots of other insects.


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## Hypoponera (Aug 14, 2009)

We have loads of those "child-of-the-earth" crickets here. Need a few sent your way Ismart? I have not seen any of the mole crickets here though. Saw lots of them in Egypt.


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## Peter Clausen (Aug 15, 2009)

A video I made of my pet Jerusalem cricket last summer...

Click HQ to watch it in "high quality":


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## AmandaLynn (Aug 15, 2009)

Awsome! Thanks for sharing that Peter! Did it adjust well to captivity and have you ever tried breeding them?


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## Peter Clausen (Aug 15, 2009)

It pulled food under but didn't seem to eat it. If I remember right, it was collected in October by a friend on a hunting trip in SE Oregon. There's no knowing how long it was mature before being collected, but it lived less than a month in captivity. Its lifespan may have been shortened by the week or so it spent in a temporary container during my friend's trip (without food).

I've seen these offered in the hobby, but don't recall any captive bred offspring offered.


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## yeatzee (Aug 31, 2009)

I use to keep these when I was in elementary school. Their bite hurts pretty bad im not going to lie &lt;_&lt; :lol:


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## AmandaLynn (Aug 31, 2009)

Ohhh, yeah they have pretty huge mandibles to go with their huge heads. I've never been bitten by one but I believe you when you say it hurts. Did the bites ever get infected or anything?


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## agent A (Sep 2, 2009)

Here's a pic I got from google:


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## yeatzee (Sep 2, 2009)

AmandaLynn said:


> Ohhh, yeah they have pretty huge mandibles to go with their huge heads. I've never been bitten by one but I believe you when you say it hurts. Did the bites ever get infected or anything?


No but it hurt like no other bug bite thus far lol


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