Jerusalem Cricket

I'm not sure how many of you out there have heard of Jerusalem crickets. Sometimes people refer to them as potato bugs. While they aren't rare creatures, it's not often that you see one alive and well. In the past, I've only seen them dead in swimming pools or in some similarly bad state. The main reason is that they are nocturnal and burrow beneath the earth most of the time.

Recently, we've been running at night near my place, and we very often see one or two of them walking around on the sidewalk. I have been talking about catching one for a while and keeping it as a pet. Finally, before the run tonight, I was reminded to bring a collecting jar. I'm happy to announce that I've got myself a new pet.

I'm going to add more dirt to the cage and provide some water. I wrote an entomologist who specializes in this particular insect, and he has already responded. He said that my basic care plans are fine, so that's good. These things live for a year or two, so if all goes well I'll be able to keep him a while.

Here are a couple pictures I took. It's a little under two inches long.