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Mormon cricket - Definition |
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The Mormon cricket is a shieldbacked katydid, not a cricket at all. They are large insects which can grow to almost three inches in length. Mormon crickets live throughout western North America in rangelands dominated by sagebrush and forbs. During population explosions they become a nuisance, a detriment to agricultural production, and even a safety hazard.
According to American folklore the young Mormon settlement in Utah was saved from famine by gulls that ate hoards of Mormon crickets destroying their first wheat crop.
See also
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