Sunday 19 May
Scaly cricket (Pseudomogoplistes vicentae)
What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.Scaly cricket fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Scaly cricket description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Class | Insecta |
| Order | Orthoptera |
| Family | Gryllidae |
| Genus | Pseudomogoplistes |
First recorded in Britain in 1949, this species is small, with a chestnut brown to grey body and pale legs, which are covered with minute scales. Wings are absent in both sexes so males cannot stridulate; the female ovipositor is about the same length as the cerci (a pair of appendages at the very end of the abdomen, which often act as sensory organs). The English name derives from the covering of tiny scales.
- Size
- Body length (males): 8-11 mm
- Body length (females): 10-13 mm
More »
Top
Related species
Scaly cricket biology
Very little is known about this species in Britain. It emerges at night and probably feeds on decaying animal and plant material found on the strandline. Individual specimens may live up to three years and all stages of the life cycle can be found throughout the year.
TopScaly cricket range
Found in the Mediterranean, southern Portugal, Madeira and the Cherbourg Peninsula in France. In Britain it was for many years known only from Chesil Beach in Dorset. This led to the now refuted notion that the species was introduced to Britain during The Second World War in sand from the Mediterranean region. Following the discovery of a second colony between Branscombe and Beer Head in Devon in 1998, and colonies on the Island of Sark in the Channel Islands and in Pembrokeshire, Wales during 2000, the species is now recognised as a true native of the British Isles.
More »
Top
Species with a similar range
Scaly cricket habitat
The scaly cricket inhabits shingle beaches, and has been found living amongst shingle, under rocks and beach debris. Most individuals inhabit shingle above the high-water mark, and are associated with the seaweed strandline.
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Scaly cricket status
Classified as Endangered in Great Britain.
TopScaly cricket threats
There has been no decline of the species in Great Britain, the scaly cricket is now known from four localities. However, colonies are sensitive to human disturbance and marine pollution.
TopScaly cricket conservation
New sampling techniques used in researching this species have shown that the British populations are relatively large, it therefore seems that the species is not currently endangered in Great Britain. However, these populations are of international significance; the species is recognised as an international rarity.
TopAuthentication
Information supplied and authenticated by Bryan Pinchen (independent ecologist).
TopGlossary
- Cerci
- Pair of appendages at the posterior end of insect abdomen, which often perform a sensory role.
- Ovipositor
- Egg-laying organ in female insects consisting of outgrowths of the abdomen (the hind region of the body in insects). The stinging organ and poison sac of worker bees and non-reproductive female wasps is a modified ovipositor.
- Stridulate
- Production of sound by rubbing a file across a membrane. In insects, often a file on a wing rubs against the surface of the other wing, or the file is on a leg which is scraped on the wing.
References
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
Saturday 18 May
Friday 17 May
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Female scaly cricket, lateral view
© Paul Brock / http://phasmida.speciesfile.org
Paul Brock
http://phasmida.speciesfile.org
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.