Montana Field Guide

The following comes from Hebard (1928), Helfer (1971), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), and Scott (2010). This is a large, robust camel cricket with a large head and the body is stouter than those in the Ceuthophilus genera. Body color can be extremely variable from solid black, brown, uniformly reddish brown, or mottled brown. The dorsal surface of the abdomen has numerous small nodules. The hind femur is large and heavy, similar to the Great Plains Camel Cricket (Daihinia brevipes), but with 8 to 10 small spines ventrally.

Details are unknown. Adult specimens collected were taken from July to October (Hebard 1928, Scott 2010, and Vickery and Kevan 1985).

The following is taken from Hebard (1928), Helfer (1971), Capinera and Sechrist (1982), Vickery and Kevan (1985), and Scott (2010). Body length in both males and females are 18 mm to 26 mm. A spine occurs dorsally near the middle on the front tibia. The female ovipositor is short, stout at the base, tapering to the middle, and terminates to a sharp, upward pointing spine. Ventrally there are 4 large unequally spaced teeth, plus a slender decurved terminal hook.

There are about 150 species of Camel Crickets in North America classified into 21 genera. Eighty-nine (59%) of those species are in the genus Ceuthophilus. The Robust Camel Cricket can be easily confused with other species in the family, Rhaphidophoridae. However, only 5 species are presently known to occur in Montana, making identification somewhat simpler (Capinera et al. 2004).

The Robust Camel Cricket is basically nocturnal, living singly in burrows it digs in loose soil. It is common under rocks, logs, boards and old tree stumps. It has been encountered on roadsides and plowed fields during cloudy days, at early morning, just at sunset, and at night (Capinera and Sechrist 1982, Vickery and Kevan 1985, and Scott 2010).

Unknown.

Unknown.