Ceuthophilus is a genus of insects in the cave cricket family Rhaphidophoridae. It contains most of the species that are known commonly as camel crickets.[1]

Ceuthophilus
Ceuthophilus sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Family: Rhaphidophoridae
Subfamily: Ceuthophilinae
Genus: Ceuthophilus
Scudder, 1862

These insects have thick, dorsally arched bodies. The head is oval in shape with long, tapering antennae. The hind femur is thick and usually spiny in males, and sometimes slightly spiny in females.[2]

Ceuthophilus have varied diets and have been described as omnivores and scavengers. Items observed in the diets of Ceuthophilus species include jelly, tuna, rancid liver, American cheese, pet food, oatmeal, wheat germ, peanut butter, molasses, wild fungi, persimmon, bread, dead and living insects, insect eggs, arachnids, dead bats, dead ring-tailed cats, and human feces.[3]

Species include:[4]

References

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  1. ^ Sanders, D. House-invading Crickets. Archived 2013-09-27 at the Wayback Machine University of Missouri Extension. 2010.
  2. ^ Kirby, W. R. Key to Subfamilies of North American Rhaphidophoridae: Subfamily Rhaphidophorinae.
  3. ^ Taylor, S. J., et al. (2005). Foraging range and habitat use of Ceuthophilus secretus (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae), a key trogloxene in central Texas cave communities. Archived 2012-10-30 at the Wayback Machine The American Midland Naturalist 154(1) 97-114.
  4. ^ Cigliano, M. M.; Braun, H.; Eades, D. C.; Otte, D. "genus Ceuthophilus Scudder, 1862". orthoptera.speciesfile.org. Orthoptera Species File. Retrieved 31 December 2018.

Further reading

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