The "The Life Of The Mormon Cricket" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at a picture of a Mormon cricket.  Had never heard of one until I was looking at the website for Longwood Gardens which is near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Seems they had a Mormon cricket a few weeks ago and it drew a big crowd who had an interest in it.  The Mormon cricket is a large insect that can grow to almost 3 inches in length.  It lives throughout western North America in the range land dominated by sagebrush.  Even thought it is called a cricket, it is really a shieldbacked katydid.  It takes its name from Mormon settlers in Utah, who encountered them while pushing westward.  They are flightless, but are capable of traveling up to two kilometers a day in its swarming phase when it is considered an agricultural pest and traffic hazard.  The Mormon crickets have a variable coloration with the overall color being black, brown, red, purple or green.  

The Mormon cricket

It has what is known as a shield or prothorax that covers its vestigial wings.  An area behind the head may have colored markings.  The abdomen appears to be striped.  Females have a long ovipositor, which should not be mistaken for a stinger. Both sexes have long antennae.  The Mormon cricket undergoes morphological changes that are triggered by high population densities, similar to those seen in locusts.  The biggest change is in coloration when it may have green or purple coloration, while swarming individual crickets are often black, brown or red.  The eggs of the cricket hatch mostly in the spring after they are laid, although in some areas they may take as many as five years to hatch.  Hatching begins when soil temperatures reach 40 degrees F.  The nymphs pass through seven instars before reaching the adult stage which is usually 60 to 90 days.   Breeding begins within 10 to 14 days of reaching the adult stage.  The male will pass the female a large spermatophore which can be up to 27% of his body weight.  The spermatophore is mostly food for the female to consume but also contains sperm to fertilize her eggs.  The nuptial gift causes swarming-phase females to compete for males, a behavior not seen in solitary-pose females.  The female lays her eggs by thrusting her ovipositor deep into the soil. Each female can lay over 100 eggs, with individual eggs having the appearance of a grain of rice with a gray to purplish color.  A most interesting insect if you can find one to view.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.