# Night of the Giant Grasshopper: what IS this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662 "2011-08-30T19:27:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/1 "2011-08-30T19:27:18Z")
Something… something hoppy has shown up at my house in the last few days. One was in the basement, in my father’s workshop, leading to him jumping up and down and screaming like a little girl for me to _get it out of here_. Another two were found today when my father was cleaning out the hot tub (cue jumping, little-girl screams, ect. He does not like bugs). I’ll admit, even I was a bit taken back by the size of those grasshoppers (or crickets or plague of locusts or whatever), and I’m practically an amateur entomologist. Google has brought me diddly squat. It doesn’t help that there’s apparently some ratings website called “Grasshopper Too”, which took up most of the results. But even the actual bug-related sites haven’t come up with anything. The closest-looking match I found turned out to be from Australia. (For the record, I live in New Jersey). Then the power went out. The power’s finally back on, and my efforts remain fruitless. So I turn to you, Teeming Dopers, to figure out what the _heck_. Photos: [http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/1791/grasshopper027.jpg](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/grasshopper027.jpg/) [http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/6937/grasshopper031.jpg](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/690/grasshopper031.jpg/) [http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/834/grasshopper032.jpg](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/13/grasshopper032.jpg/) [http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/9316/grasshopper037.jpg](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/714/grasshopper037.jpg/) ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/2 "2011-08-30T19:28:55Z")
Relax, Max. It’s a cricket. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/3 "2011-08-30T19:32:58Z")
Camel cricket: > **[Camel Cricket - Diestrammena asynamora](https://bugguide.net/node/view/37372)** > > An online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/4 "2011-08-30T19:32:59Z")
Huh. I saw a that picture smaller size, I think, but I didn’t recognize it because it’s all bent up in that picture. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/5 "2011-08-30T20:08:11Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Huh. I saw a that picture smaller size, I think, but I didn’t recognize it because it’s all bent up in that picture. Note that there are several species of camel cricket. The wiki article, with a couple more pictures: > **[Rhaphidophoridae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaphidophoridae)** > > See text > The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets (sometimes shortened to "criders" or "sprickets"), and sand treaders. Those occurring in New Zealand are typically referred to as jumping or cave wētā. Most are found in forest environments or within caves, animal burrows, cellars, under stones, or in wood or similar environments. All species are flightles... ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/6 "2011-08-30T20:40:14Z")
Okay, so the next question is: _camel_ crickets? Did someone think they looked like camels? I suppose they look like they could eat a camel. (And should I tell my dad that they’re poisonous, carnivorous, and known for turning up in people’s beds, or should I resist the temptation?) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/7 "2011-08-30T20:45:46Z")
All the pictures I’m seeing on Google are all curled up like in your picture. Ours aren’t like that. At least, they look flat to me. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/8 "2011-08-30T23:14:02Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > All the pictures I’m seeing on Google are all curled up like in your picture. Ours aren’t like that. At least, they look flat to me. Well, the one in your second photo (031) looks arched just like the one on bugguide to me. Is that what you mean by “curled up?” Looks the same to me. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/9 "2011-08-30T23:55:30Z")
Well, kinda… but I have to look carefully to notice it. It seems to me the pictures on the web are super extra curled. I’ll just put it down to bad posture. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/10 "2011-08-30T23:57:43Z")
We call those graveyard spiders or spider-crickets. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/11 "2011-08-31T01:13:47Z")
Have you ever read the short story “Heresies of the Huge God” by Brian Aldiss? Your adventures remind me of it. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/12 "2011-08-31T01:40:07Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Okay, so the next question is: _camel_ crickets? Did someone think they looked like camels? I suppose they look like they could eat a camel. Well, it _does_ look like it was painted with desert camouflage. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/13 "2011-08-31T20:51:40Z")
I’ve always thought they were called camel crickets because the arch in their back looks like a camel’s hump. We get those buggers all over our basement, but the cat and dog make short work of them. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/14 "2011-09-01T14:38:08Z")
This is one of my least favorite insects. Camel crickets are VERY common in basements and crawlspaces here in central NC. > **[Rhaphidophoridae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_cricket)** > > See text > The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets (sometimes shortened to "criders" or "sprickets"), and sand treaders. Those occurring in New Zealand are typically referred to as jumping or cave wētā. Most are found in forest environments or within caves, animal burrows, cellars, under stones, or in wood or similar environments. All species are flightles... > [@](#): > > Given their limited vision, cave crickets will often jump towards any perceived threat in an attempt to frighten it away. They actually WANT to jump on you, which I find most unwelcome ☹ ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/15 "2011-09-01T16:32:15Z")
Uh…how far north do these things live? I’ve never seen a cricket that wasn’t both very small and solid black or tan (the latter only in pet stores), and after this thread I’m sure I never want to. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/16 "2011-09-01T16:45:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Uh…how far north do these things live? I’ve never seen a cricket that wasn’t both very small and solid black or tan (the latter only in pet stores), and after this thread I’m sure I never want to. New Hampshire, huh? > **[Genus Ceuthophilus](https://bugguide.net/node/view/24633/data)** > > An online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-of-the-giant-grasshopper-what-is-this/594662/17 "2011-09-03T01:23:32Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Okay, so the next question is: _camel_ crickets? Did someone think they looked like camels? I suppose they look like they could eat a camel. > > (And should I tell my dad that they’re poisonous, carnivorous, and known for turning up in people’s beds, or should I resist the temptation?) Be glad it’s a camel _cricket_ and not a camel [_spider_](http://www.google.com/search?q=camel+spider&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1760&bih=733). NSFSoS (not safe for scared of spiders)