European Field Cricket
Gryllus campestris
Only the males sing, using a process called stridulation where they rub a scraper on one wing against a file on the other.
- Scientific name
- Gryllus campestris
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Orthoptera › Gryllidae › Gryllus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Dry, sunny grasslands, meadows, and pastures with short vegetation and patches of bare soil.
- Diet
- Omnivorous, primarily consuming grasses, leaves, and roots, but occasionally scavenging dead insects.
- Range
- Europe, North Africa, Western Asia
- Size
- 20-26 mm in length
- Lifespan
- 1 year
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Intensive agricultural practices, loss of permanent pastures, and habitat fragmentation.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless to humans. These crickets are shy and will retreat into their burrows if they feel vibrations. Observe quietly from a distance to hear their song; do not attempt to dig up their burrows.
Gryllus campestris is one of many crickets known as field crickets. These flightless dark colored insects are comparatively large; the males range from 19 to 23 mm and the females from 17 to 22 mm.
Photo: Gilles San Martin, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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