African field cricket, Mediterranean field cricket, or two-spotted cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus De Geer, 1773 (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) is found throughout many parts of the world due to its use in research (Mito and Noji, 2008) as well as mass production as feed for insectivorous animals in confined facilities, such as zoos. A quick internet search reveals this species to be produced by a number of companies and sold as animal feed. This species can be differentiated from other cricket species by the two-yellow/white spots on the dorsum of its thorax. This species, like other crickets, has an incomplete metamorphosis (hemimetabolous) with an egg, nymph, and adult stage.
Classification
Gryllus bimaculatus
Kingdom | Animalia |
Phylum | Arthropoda |
Class | Insecta |
Order | Orthoptera |
Family | Gryllidae |
Genus | Gryllus |
Species | G. bimaculatus |
Author citation | De Geer, 1773 |
Common names | |
african field cricket, mediterranean field cricket, two-spotted cricket |