An Uncooperative Mole Cricket in South Texas Refuses to Burrow for Coyote Peterson

While on location in South Texas, the very curious Coyote Peterson of Brave Wilderness found that he was intrigued by the repetitive stridulating sound that kept showing up on the show’s audio track and went out in search of the source. It turned out to be the song of a male mole cricket who was buried underground. Rather than disturb the subterranean male, Peterson found a female above ground whom he tried to coax to burrow in an ad-hoc tray of sand, but the stubborn mole cricket wasn’t feeling very cooperative, much to Peterson’s frustration.

Have you ever wondered what insects are making all that loud screeching at night? Well to find out usually all you need to do is grab a simple flashlight and follow the sound until you find the little screamer. However sometimes you can be looking right at the source of the noise and see nothing at all…how can this be? Well in these rare instances what you’ve usually stumbled upon is a chirping Mole Cricket, and just like the name suggests these crickets are diggers and live most of their lives underground and out of sight.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.