I choose to comment on this cricket solely because of its name! No doubt you are familiar with the name verruca for the warts which sometimes afflict the feet. So, the name of this creature verruci..vore- The Wart Biter - is identical in English French and Latin. Moreover the name is the same in German and Dutch translations. I suspect that the French name is derived from the Latin, it seems so artificial. The Latin name, given in 1758 by Linnaeus, is nevertheless a direct translation of 'biter wart eater'. At that time the notion that this cricket ate warts must have been a common myth amongst some naturalists. In Britain the species has only been found in odd patches in the south eastern counties. There it is seriously threatened with extinction. In France it is said to be rapidly on the decline.

It is hardly likely that the principal diet of this cricket is warts on human skin. In fact it eats a wide range of plant material and also other insects. I find it mysterious that an insect which is not particularly common, though widespread, carries this legendary story. I do not know of any reference to it before 1758. Possibly the name has become restricted to this single species and was previously applied more widely. The whole group can bite and draw blood. It is said that you can remove the warts by getting the insect to bite the warts, or if not then by squeezing the caustic juice of its stomach contents on the warts! It all seems highly unlikely.

This species is large, at up to four cms. long. The antennae are somewhat longer. The specimen illustrated is unusual in being brown. Usually they are green but the characteristic rhomboidal black markings on the wings are the giveaway sign that the cricket is the Wart-Biter.

The French and English names of this group of insects and its relatives are a linguistic trap which can make one seem an idiot. I give them... Criquet. = Grasshopper .. Sauterelle = Cricket, and to which I add for completeness Grillon = Field Cricket.

But it also helps to know which are which. Field Crickets are more or less flattened horizontally and are not very good at hopping. Crickets (Sauterelles) have very long antennae and are most often quite large. Many fly energetically though some have no wings. Grasshoppers (Criquets) have short antennae, hop well, but usually only make short flights, if at all.-- but exceptionally species like locusts fly spectacularly in hordes. The vast majority make a very loud noise day or night or both.

In France there are large numbers of species of all these spectacular insects. I thoroughly recommend the book 'Guide des Sauterelles Grillons et Criquets d'Europe occidentale' by H.Bellmann et G.Luquet published by Delachaux et Niestlé .

natural history index | home page