Gryllotalpa major facts for kids

The Prairie Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa major) is the biggest cricket in North America. It lives only in the United States. You can find it in grasslands, especially in states like Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Arkansas. This cricket is part of a family called Gryllotalpidae. Sadly, it is losing its home because of habitat loss.

Male Prairie Mole Crickets are known for their loud songs. They make sounds by rubbing their front wings together. They sing from special burrows they dig in the ground. These songs help them attract female crickets for mating. You can hear their calls from far away, sometimes up to 400 meters (about 1,300 feet)! Unlike most mole crickets that make a continuous "trill" sound, the Prairie Mole Cricket sings with clear, repeated "chirps."

About the Prairie Mole Cricket

The Prairie Mole Cricket is the largest cricket in North America. It can grow up to 5 centimeters (about 2 inches) long. It can also weigh up to 2.6 grams. These crickets are usually brown or reddish-brown.

Like other mole crickets, Gryllotalpa major has a strong, bullet-shaped body. It also has big, powerful front legs. These legs are perfect for digging complex burrows in the soil. Male crickets have special front wings. They use these wings to make their loud calls. This sound-making part is called a stridulatory apparatus. They use it with their burrows to sing and attract females. This happens during their short mating season in late spring.

Female Prairie Mole Crickets can also make sounds. However, their sound-making parts are smaller and weaker. Scientists think their sounds might be used for defense or when they are aggressive. Prairie Mole Crickets can hear sounds from 2 kHz up to an ultrasonic range of 25 kHz. This means they can hear very high-pitched sounds that humans cannot.

Where Prairie Mole Crickets Live

Gryllotalpa major lives in tall prairie grasslands. Its home is in the south-central United States. You can find it in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

Sometimes, people use controlled burns in these prairie habitats. These fires usually happen in March and April. This is when the crickets start their breeding season. Studies show that recently burned land can actually help the crickets. The warmer soil after a fire helps them sing more often. Their songs also travel better over burned land. This makes it easier for females to find them. The grass roots they eat are safe underground during a fire. Scientists have not seen crickets die directly from these burns.

The height of the grass also affects where male crickets dig their burrows. In taller grass, the burrows are farther apart. The opening of the burrow also changes its angle. This behavior might help them deal with the changing conditions of the tallgrass prairie.

How Prairie Mole Crickets Reproduce

Male Prairie Mole Crickets build special burrows in the soil. They arrange these burrows in an area called a "lek." From these burrows, they sing loudly to attract females. The females fly overhead and choose a male.

The male's song is a loud, long-distance call. It has a pattern of long chirps. These chirps have a frequency of 2 kHz. They can be heard up to 400 meters away. Females fly about 1.5 to 5 meters (5 to 16 feet) above the lek. They listen to the male's call and decide which male they like best. Females can hear the male's calls from up to 76 meters (250 feet) away. They usually arrive within 20 minutes of hearing a good call.

Once a female chooses a male, she lands about 3 to 5 meters (10 to 16 feet) from his burrow. She then uses sound to find her way to the burrow. She enters the burrow, mates with the male, and then leaves. Scientists found that females do not always choose the closest male. They often choose males that are more isolated. This might be because these males are stronger or better at surviving.

Scientists have studied the mating behavior of Gryllotalpa major. They found it fits a "lek system." In this system, males do not help raise the young. They only fertilize the female's eggs. Males create these special areas with evenly spaced burrows. Females are free to choose a male without being forced.

Singing male crickets also create vibrations in the soil. Neighboring males can feel these vibrations. They can tell them apart from other ground movements. These vibrations can travel up to 3 meters (10 feet) in the soil. Males do not change their songs based on other males' airborne calls. But some do react to ground vibrations. They might even move their burrows to a better spot.

The chirp of the Prairie Mole Cricket is special among crickets. Most crickets make a "trill" sound. But Gryllotalpa major uses a "chirp." Scientists found that the chirp's features can tell us about the cricket itself. For example, longer males often make lower-frequency calls. Their chirps also have more syllables.

Within the lek, male crickets are close to each other. They can influence their neighbors. Males do sound louder when more males are calling. However, individual males do not increase their call volume because of competition. They also do not increase it based on how many females are around. The temperature of the soil strongly affects how often males chirp. This is because warmer soil gives them more energy.

Is the Prairie Mole Cricket in Danger?

In the late 1980s, people suggested that Gryllotalpa major should be a threatened species. This means it would get special protection. But there was not enough information about its life and habitat. So, protection efforts have been slow.

The IUCN Red List says there is "data deficient" information for this species. This means more studies are needed. We need to learn more about its habitat and how losing tallgrass prairie affects its population. Another group, NatureServe, lists Gryllotalpa major as "vulnerable." This is because its populations are spread out, and it is losing its habitat.