About Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa (Linnaeus, 1758)
This species has the scientific name Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa (Linnaeus, 1758). Males reach a body length of about 50 millimetres (2.0 in), while females reach 70 millimetres (2.8 in). This mole cricket is dark brown with a silky shimmer and a yellowish underside, and its body is covered in fine velvety hairs. Its forelegs are powerful and modified for digging. Its elytra measure half the length of the abdomen, and its wings are transparent with a net-like vein structure. The wings are folded into pleats, and they are seldom used, since this cricket normally lives underground. Males can be told apart from females by an open vein area on the forewing called the 'harp'. Unlike other crickets, females of this species do not have an external ovipositor. This mole cricket is found across most of the Western Palaearctic. It is replaced by similar species in the south and east of this region, and becomes rare or completely absent toward the north. It is thought to possibly be extirpated from Ireland, with only one recorded observation from 1920. It favors habitats including damp, rich soils, flood plains, reservoir edges, irrigated and well-fertilized fields, and vegetable gardens. The family Gryllotalpidae contains several other similar species.
