About the Eastern Ant Cricket
Myrmecophilus pergandei, the eastern ant cricket, is a species of ant cricket in the family Myrmecophilidae. It is found in North America. It is a wingless cricket that is an obligate kleptoparasite of ants living in their nests. They lack both wings and tympanal organs on the front tibia.
They have been found in the United States, in the following states: Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
M. pergandei has been observed with the following ants: Lasius umbratus, Camponotus castaneus, Camponotus chromaiodes, Camponotus herculeanus, Camponotus novaeboracensis, Formica obscuriventris, Formica pallidefulva, Formica subsericea, Aphaenogaster treatae, Crematogaster lineolata, and Tapinoma sessile.
Ant crickets lives as an inquiline within ants' nests. M. pergandei is known to live with eleven ant species. This specialized way of life has led this insect and its relatives to evolve many morphological differences compared to other orthopterans, including complete absence of wings and hearing organs, and much reduced... Wikipedia →