Corn Cricket

Description:

Large,fat,wingless crickets, the immature stages start out bright green. The ventral surface of the adults is pale yellow with varying amounts of green retained around the base of the legs in some.The dorsal side of the thorax is armoured and bears vicious looking spines which gives the adults a prehistoric look. The eyes and antennae (which are longer than the body) are red which I think is a feature of all 6 Acanthoplus species.

Habitat:

these fellows are in the process of destroying my garden, the general area experiences hot erratically wet summers and mild dry winters, corn crickets are non selective omnivores

Notes:

Corn crickets are non selective omnivores even munching fresh putty from a newly glazed window. One year I attempted to grow a banana, it was about 1m high when the crickets found it and overnight it was reduced to a hole in the soil where the stem had previously been. They are also well known for their cannibalistic habit when it comes to road kills. I used to really dislike these critters but how can one hate a little chap with such a beguiling face as in photo 5? (This spotting is in Botswana)