The Mormon cricket (Anabrus simplex) is a large insect that can grow to almost three inches (seven centimeters) in length. They live throughout western North America in rangelands dominated by sagebrush and forbs.
Despite its name, the Mormon cricket is actually a shieldbacked katydid, not a cricket. It has not yet been determined whether this insect is a Mormon.
The Mormon cricket is flightless, but capable of traveling up to two kilometers a day in its swarming phase, during which it is a serious agricultural pest and traffic hazard.
Read more about Mormon Cricket: Appearance, Life Cycle, Swarming, Food, Control, Historical
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“All cries are thin and terse;
The field has droned the summer’s final mass;
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Crawls from the dry grass.”
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