Humped Cricket - NH 067

NH 067

Camel Cricket

Category: Grasshoppers and Kin

Family: Rhaphidorphoridae

So, glancing at the Collections of Natural History page I realized that I haven't really posted anything up from other than spiders and a few other insects. That being said I am now going to present the first from the Grasshoppers and Kin group: a Camel Cricket. Now when I first collected this guy he was temporarily identified as a mole cricket, I think someone may have told me that's what they looked like. But with a bit of research it turns out that it is actually a camel cricket-easily identified by its humped back. It was living under a rock in the Cornell Arboretum, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA and was found on October 26, 2010 at 5:30pm.

There isn't much else to say about them. It seems that they have a tendency to accidentally find themselves indoors and will make a new home in a basement or other similar dark and damp place. They are pests only in that they come into houses and are unwanted but other than that they don't really cause any harm. I am going to temporarily classify him as a Spotted Camel Cricket (Ceuthophilus maculatus), but as always this is only for the time being unless an expert can help me out on this front. But if you want to learn more about the Rhaphidophoridae family you can check out the link.