Jerusalem cricket

American  

[ji-roo-suh-luhm krik-it, -zuh-] / dʒɪˈru sə ləm ˈkrɪk ɪt, -zə- /

noun

1. a large, nocturnal, wingless, long-horned grasshopper of the family Stenopelmatidae, especially Stenopelmatus fuscus, occurring chiefly in loose soil and sand.

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Etymology

Origin of Jerusalem cricket

An Americanism first recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

In the American south-west lives a small reddish-brown insect called the Jerusalem cricket.

From The Guardian

We slowed near an abandoned farmhouse favored by pallid bats, which scoop the tarantulas and scorpions and Jerusalem crickets up off the ground and eat them, discarding the legs and tails.*

From The New Yorker

We slowed near an abandoned farmhouse favored by palate bats, which scoop the tarantulas and scorpions and Jerusalem crickets up off the ground and eat them, discarding the legs and tails.

From The New Yorker

For Kesteloot, who has a particular interest in insects, her backyard is now home to a menagerie that includes monarch butterflies, Jerusalem crickets, bumble bees and honeybees.

From The Guardian

Jerusalem crickets," he exclaimed, wiping his mouth, "but that's good stuff.

From Project Gutenberg