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A flightless relative of katydids that sometimes forms moving bands.
Mormon crickets are not true crickets. UC IPM says they are closer to katydids and longhorned grasshoppers. Adults are about an inch long, heavy-bodied and tan. The wings are small and useless, so they cannot fly, and the female has a sword-shaped egg-laying organ about as long as her body.
The insects pass the winter as eggs in barren, sandy soil in sunny places. Eggs hatch in the first warm days of spring, and the nymphs go through seven stages in about 75 to 100 days. They are active only in warm sunny hours and shelter at night and in cloudy or rainy weather.
About half grown, they begin to migrate from rangeland breeding grounds, and in years with high numbers they can damage crops in their path. UC IPM says that happens sporadically, about once or twice a decade. Check Utah Department of Agriculture and Food notices for current seasons.
Heavy-bodied, wingless, tan insect about an inch long.
Look for them on warm days on rangeland; never handle crickets that may have been sprayed.
North America's largest land animal, with wild herds on Antelope Island, in the Henry Mountains and in the Book Cliffs.
An open-country specialist with a white rump, unusual shedding horn sheaths and a need for connected habitat.
Common across Utah, including in cities, and an opportunist that will eat almost anything.