On 26 July 2008 Heidi was in-town (while I was working on SCI, living in San Diego while off work). Our primary mission on that day was to find target Life Birds for Heidi : Lawrence's Goldfinch, and Phainopepla.
We were at lower elevations of the Kitchen Creek watershed, an area that was very reliable for the goldfinch. This, the location and population that gave me my first looks at that goldfinch species when I moved to SD county. A spot where I found my "Life" Gray Vireo.
After enjoying the population of Lawrence's along the wooded, running creek we walked down slope for awhile. Heidi eventually stopped and suggested I should as well. Always looking up for birds and lower for leps, I am finding I would miss many things down in the leaf litter if it wasn't for her.
Including this new critter for me:
Jerusalem Cricket (family Stenopelmatidae). I'm going to read a little bit, in quotations, from Field Guide to North American Insects, Ken Kaufmann, 2006."... are perhaps our most maligned and misidentified insects. Steeped in superstition, from Native American mythology to urban legend, their aliases include "chaco", "potato bug", and Nina de la Tierra (Child of the Earth)."
Regarding some common myths and folk tales allied with this animal: They are not venemous. However, they can emit a foul smell and are capable of inflicting a wicked bite - but neither is lethal as some tales would suggest. They also do not cry like children, nor do they rub their legs together to make sounds.
"They are not crickets but are more closely related to the wetas of Australia and New Zealand.
"The life cycle may take four or five years to complete."A very cool critter. This guy was attempting to dig and bury back down into the leaf litter. We only impeded its progress momentarily to capture a couple of pictures.
A very memorable moment for Heidi and myself, and thus included in part of the title of the blog.
The Jerusalem Cricket.
Timmy.
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such wonderful creatures, thanks for sharing the little fellow =) ...may we all be so fortunate to have fashionably stripey rumps and piles of leaf litter to luxuriate in!
ReplyDeleteMy tarantula loves these things. I just have to remove their pincers before feeding them to him. They're just really hard to find. Where would you suggest capturing these little critters?
ReplyDeleteI'd stick with store bought crickets, honestly. Also, because you're assuming wild caught, there's no telling what these guys have been exposed to, carry or could transmit to your tarantula. Either way, since these guys *are* so hard to find, it would be difficult to find a reliable supply (unless you could figure out a way to raise them in captivity, I'm not sure that's been done before!)
ReplyDeleteSo, yeah, overall I'd stick with store crickets.
Yeah, I've been feeding him store crickets with the occasional wild bug (moths and jerusalem crickets). He's stopped eating recently though. Sorry about changing the subject on which this site is based. My bad.
ReplyDeleteHey, it's the Tarantula guy again. I tried to keep one of those Jerusalem Crickets as a pet, and it died. I put in a bunch of dirt, and a vast assortment of food, along with a water dish with wet cotton in it, and it just decided to starvfe itself to death. Any advice on how to keep them alive? The one thing i didn't feed it was other bugs.
ReplyDeleteAlas, there's not much known about Jerusalem Crickets in general, and certainly not much information out there about keeping them in captivity =( Everything on this blog is pretty much free range photography, perhaps you'd want to look into an entomology forum?
ReplyDeleteTarantula guy again... I caught two more of these things and found that they like wet sand. I've had one of them since the day after the previous post. I have them living with the crickets, and they are doing great. I really don't know what they've been eating because they stay in their tunnels all of the time, but they are getting bigger. I have been feeding the crickets lettuce, carrots and dog food that I've soaked in water. Perhaps the Jerusalem Crickets are coming up and grabbing food when I'm not around.
ReplyDeleteWhereabouts did you catch them? Habitat-wise... sandy/dirt area with leaf litter, by any chance? Bugguide.net lists quite a few references - http://bugguide.net/node/view/39450 - and since my last googling, there actually seem to be some care pages up. Good to hear that they're still alive, though, keep us posted on their habits!
ReplyDeleteThey had made their burrows in the dirt. I found the large one under a log, while the smaller one was under a rock. They both had made burrows that were quite large. The ground in the area was a little moist. I'm going to try feeding them a chunk of potato just because I've heard them called potato bugs. I'll tell you how that goes.
ReplyDeleteFrom Tarantula Guy (I just got a second tarantula, and now I think I have a male and a female!)
Do you have a log/wood chunk/rock in the cricket enclosure now? It would be neat to see photos of your setup (as well as a comparison photo with where they came from, but that requires effort). Keep us posted =)
ReplyDeleteOk, something went horribly wrong right before I changed the sand last. The larger Jerusalem Cricket ate the smaller one. The next day my friend found a slightly smaller one than the one that was left over. Then I finally put the potatoes in the cage, and both the crickets and the J crickets were enjoying the food. I fed the last cricket to my Tarantulas last night and when I looked into the cage of the J crickets one had dug its way out from under the sand, flipped over and died. The other is still in perfect shape. I am seriously confused as to how this one died. There was plenty of food and water. These things seem like they're really sturdy, but they just die really randomly. I just moved closer to the coast over the last few days, perhaps that has something to do with the thing dying. I will try to find one more and change the container one more time to see if a half sand, half dirt environment would be better for them. Until next time, Tarantula Guy. (Sorry about all the dead J crickets... MY BAD...)
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty sad. I'm not sure if this link will work for you, but it's the html equivalent of this pdf from the Nevada Devision of Agriculture - page 3 gets into their care in captivity, but doesn't get too specific about humidity...
ReplyDeleteCan you find j-crickets in Hartford County, CT. I have been wanting one as a pet, if not in CT, where can you buy them?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if Jerusalem Crickets range that far north (seems unlikely), but they're not commonly available as pets - and seem remarkably high maintenance, given the discussion above... hissing cockroaches are a charming substitute though, ever given them a chance?
ReplyDeleteUmm... I lost a Jerusalem cricket in my room, I dont know what to do! I can barely sleep knowing about it!
ReplyDeleteWe are in the process of creating a terrarium for the one my husband just caught. Gonna take tarantula guy's advice with the semi moist sand and veggies with soaked dry dog food approach. Hopefully we can keep her alive and growing
ReplyDelete