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Common Mole Cricket
Gryllotalpa pluvialis
-37.8967, 145.31
Field Notes
Description:
A dark brown insect about 50mm long. The thorax was large shiny and shovel shaped. The fore wings were short and first pair of legs are modified for digging and turned slightly outwards. This insect had cerci at the rear end.
Habitat:
damp soil, compost heaps
Found him in loose dirt under a decaying piece of eucalyptus log
Notes:
This mole cricket is possibly male, as they tend to have shorter wings. Their song is a low continuous trill which attracts the female. The female is said to prefer damp nests and can assess the male's health by the sound he makes. The males often use their burrows as resonating chambers to make it more attractive to females. The reerence has some interesting facts about this insects call..
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