camel crickets

(Ceuthophilus spp.)

Overview
camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)
Photo by Bill Reynolds
 

Camel crickets are most commonly found from August to October under rotten logs, stones, mole hills, basements, and other dark, moist places. Adults are active at night. They eat decaying organic matter, including mushrooms, dead insects, fruits, flowers, and dung. They are also commonly found in damp basements and crawl spaces.

 
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Ceuthophilus is a genus of large or medium-sized crickets. Adult males are ½ to 1 long. Females are larger than males. The head is oval shaped and is bent downward between the forelegs. The antennae are tapered and longer than the body, usually 2 or more times as long as the body. The body is stout and has a distinctive hump-backed shape. It may be whitish, pale brown, or almost black, with contrasting mottled markings. The egg-laying structure (ovipositor) on females is blade-like and straight. The legs are long and slender. The fourth segment of the leg (tibia) is longer than the third segment (femur). The tibia of each back leg is thick and has more than four pairs of movable spines. There is no spine on the front or side (dorso-lateral) surface of the tibia of the front leg. All legs have four end segments (tarsi). The first tarsus is almost as long as the remaining tarsi together. There are no wings or hearing organs (tympani).

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

7, 24, 27, 29, 30, 82.

 
  7/12/2022      
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids)  
 

Suborder

Ensifera (katydids, crickets, and allies)  
 

Superfamily

Rhaphidophoroidea (camel crickets, cave crickets, and cave wētas)  
 

Family

Rhaphidophoridae (camel crickets, cave crickets, and cave wēta)  
 

Subfamily

Ceuthophilinae  
  Tribe Ceuthophilini  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

black-sided camel cricket (Ceuthophilus latens)

boreal camel cricket (Ceuthophilus brevipes)

divergent camel cricket (Ceuthophilus divergens)

fusiform camel cricket (Ceuthophilus fusiformis)

pale camel cricket (Ceuthophilus pallescens)

pale-legged camel cricket (Ceuthophilus pallidipes)

plains camel cricket (Ceuthophilus pallidus)

spotted camel cricket (Ceuthophilus maculatus)

woodland camel cricket (Ceuthophilus silvestris)

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

This genus has no common. However, it contains most of the species known as camel crickets, and it is commonly referred to as camel crickets. That name is used here for convenience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.

 

Ovipositor

A tube-like organ near the end of the abdomen of many female insects, used to prepare a place for an egg and to place the egg.

 

Tarsus

The last two to five sections of an insect’s leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. Plural: tarsi.

 

Tibia

The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot).

 

Tympanum

An external hearing structure. In reptiles and amphibians, the circular, disk-like membrane that covers the ear opening. In insects, the membrane covering the air sac and sensory neurons. Plural: tympani.

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Brandi

 
    camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)      
 

Troy Bauer

 
 

I came across your page while looking for information to identify a strange looking critter.

I am 49 years old and still in the same small rural farming community I grew up in. I have never seen one of these weird little critters. It is a camel cricket or spider cricket. I see on your distributing map that my area does not show them. I am in Kenyon, MN and it is confirmed that they are certainly here now. Great site. Keep up the good work.

  camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)  
 

Jason and Amanda Alexander

 
    camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)      
 

Bill Reynolds

 
  While trapping pocket gophers in my garden, this little fella hopped out.   camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)  
           
    camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)   camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
    camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)      
           

 

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Other Videos
 
  Cave Cricket (Camel cricket) Ceuthophilus sp.
The Wimberley Naturalist
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 13, 2014

This is a male Cave Cricket (or Camel Cricket) we found in the bathroom today. Cave crickets lack wings, and have a distinctive hump and downward-facing face, very long antennae and long legs, which enable them to jump quite high and far. The males of this species cannot chirp like other species can. Like their name implies, they can often be found in caves (and have a hump), and like most crickets are nocturnal (which is why this guy keeps out of the sunlight in the video). They also prefer dark, damp, cool environments (like caves!), which is why it was in the house, the bathroom specifically. It has been averaging in the mid to high nineties (Fahrenheit) outside lately and hasn't rained in weeks. Plus Texas is still going through a severe drought for the past several years. Cave crickets can damage cloth instead a home, like carpets and drapes. They also will eat just about anything edible, from decaying plant matter to dog food. These insects can actually become a pest and invade dark, damp areas of a home, like a basement. This video is short but captures this neat-looking insect.

 
  Camel Cricket (Rhaphidophoridae: Ceuthophilus) Dorsal View
Carl Barrentine
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Sep 9, 2011

Photographed at Grand Forks, North Dakota (07 September 2011).

 
       

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this insect.

 
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  Brandi
7/11/2022

Location: Centennial, Colorado

camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)  
  Margo Bremer
6/21/2019

Location: Zumbrota, MN

We live in the country, close to the Zumbro River. I have seen camel crickets in our basement once or twice a year over the last few years, and  being a nature lover, I capture them and set them free outside. This last one I discovered in our basement shower.

 
  Troy Bauer
8/12/2018

Location: Kenyon, MN

I came across your page while looking for information to identify a strange looking critter. I am 49 years old and still in the same small rural farming community I grew up in. I have never seen one of these weird little critters. It is a camel cricket or spider cricket. I see on your distributing map that my area does not show them. I am in Kenyon, MN and it is confirmed that they are certainly here now. Great site. Keep up the good work.

camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)  
  Jason and Amanda Alexander
9/2/2016

Location: Centennial, Colorado

camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)  
  Bill Reynolds
10/3/2014

Location: Pennington Co MN

While trapping pocket gophers in my garden, this little fella hopped out.

camel cricket (Ceuthophilus sp.)  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

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Created 10/3/2014

Last Updated:

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