Mole Crickets?

[Scythemantis]

I've just caught six mole crickets from a parking lot where they were absolutely swarming. They're probably near the end of their life cycle, but has anyone ever had luck keeping them in captivity, or even breeding them? I suppose they may need plant roots to lay eggs.

 

[Billeh]

Those look cool and interesting.. Please keep this thread updated with any findings and how breeding them goes

 

[Entomancer]

All hail the graet bogleech!!!!!!!

It's that bogleech guy!

I've never had mole crickets, but I had camel crickets for a while. Things didn't turn out well, because I didn't keep them moist enough, but they did lay eggs in a primarily clay-based substrate.

I would keep them on a sandy soil mix deep enough for them to burrow, and as for food, I would try to feed them carrots, potato, and other easily-obtained edible roots. I don't know how "adventurous" they would be as far as other kinds of food, but you might also try dog food to give them a protein source.

I have no idea whether or not this would work, but it's worth a shot if you ask me. Just try to make sure things stay moist (plastic shoeboxes are the best kind of container for that) so that any eggs do not dry out.

 

[Scythemantis]

I let the current ones go because they're just too cute to risk killing them in an inadequate setup.

I took a video of one cleaning itself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2Y4cVIEKPc&list=UU3hQVdYkepjLgL5AclRA2-A&index=1

Searching the internet relentlessly I could find only one person mentioning that they kept a species of Mole Cricket for a few generations on a diet of small earthworms.

Maybe I'll catch a few more and try them in a nice big, deep, moist plastic box of soil.

 

[Tenodera]

These can do well in captivity, but I learned not to keep individuals of different ages together. Once the two strongest had outcompeted or eaten the others, they were fine. It so happened that the two strongest were both female, so I never got to try breeding. Oh, and of course you don't see them much! I would lift up some of the grass, put food in an exposed tunnel, and then hold the container over my head watch them eat.

 

[Travis K]

Nice find! I have only found a mole cricket once in my life when I was a teenager. They are very interesting inverts to say the least.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Cool video! I had many of these when I was a kid. Last year (when I returned home) I found a bunch but let them go. I have never tried to breed them. Such a cool bug. Thanks! : )

 

[Heckboy]

Nice find! I have only found a mole cricket once in my life when I was a teenager. They are very interesting inverts to say the least.

Me too.
My cousin and I in Croatia were flooding cricket burrows (big black Gryllus campestris) to feed a hedgehog we obtained, and we saw these things. We thought it was neat to drop them on the ground and watch them disappear in seconds.