As days grow warm and long, a thumb-sized arthropod wiggles through the dirt in search of cooler, darker shelter, burrowing into the backyards of unsuspecting gardeners across the Western U.S..
This may be the most adorable insect ever to evolve — and the most nerve-wracking. Cute and contrary, it usually hides through summer’s sunniest days. But when it rains enough, it creeps through foundations and cracks in search of dry land. Once there, it strikes unexpectedly, occasionally taking a chunk out of someone’s finger. Exterminators make a bundle off people who are terrified of having them near or in the house.
Meet Stenopelmatus fuscus – the Jerusalem Cricket.
Nocturnal by nature, this insect snuggles into the soil at the first sign of daylight. Pale-faced amber with bee-like stripes, it has adapted to complete darkness, and it spends weeks in light-less, subterranean bliss. Out of doors, it aerates and churns — beneficial, say experts, a cute, carniverous predator that will gorge on destructive insect pests.
By some accounts, this darkness-lover — the prototype of Jiminy Cricket himself, some say — is what you would get if you crossed a giant ant and a Koala. Except that due to its size (most measure around 2 inches, top to toe), this bug is too big to be in the same room with. Exterminators place it on the list of Top 10 Bugs that caused people to panic. Even its signature hissing chirp begins for some homeowners to evoke the soundtrack of Jaws.
Does it bite? Yes, and it is agonizing. Not lethal, thankfully, but those tiny jaws are terribly strong. If doesn’t like you, this cuddly cartoon-like critter will take a big chunk out of your finger.
Yet, these arthropods are the perfect pet for those who garden. All summer long, under cover of darkness, the Jerusalem Cricket peeks out of its hiding place — from beneath rocks and fallen tree branches, inside sandboxes and compost piles — and hunts down earthworms, aphids, beetles larvae and others — pests whose presence ruin garden fruits and vegetables if left unchecked. That puts them on the list of “good” critters for the garden. Try telling that to a homeowner with one in his den.
A hungry Jerusalem Cricket will devour hundreds of flower- and leaf-chewing larvae a day. Of the different Stenopelmatus species, monster-sized Mahogany Jerusalem Cricket, which lives exclusively in Southern California, holds the record as the state’s second largest insect.
While the one out West is most commonly S. fuscus, the current number of species is 7 and counting. David B. Weissman, PhD, California Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s Stenopelmatus pundits, thinks there may be as many as 50 species live in hiding underground just in California.
Entomologists understanding surprisingly little about this bug. Species are named and re-named as new ones are found.
Because they are so rich in protein, Stenopelmatii are favorite meals of skunks, foxes and owls, especially in Southern California, where they thrive. For the entomophagist in you, they appear as a low-fat alternative on the occasional restaurant menu.
One Canadian chef last year actually included them in an Indian Food dish, pending approval of local government authorities. The publicity made him famous overnight. Alas, the dish lasted a mere week before it was pulled. Hmmm… Wonder why?
