Pygmy Mole Crickets

The Tridactylidae are a family in the order Orthoptera. They are small, mole-cricket-like insects, almost always less than 20 mm long when mature. Generally they are shiny, dark or black, sometimes variegated or sandy-coloured. They commonly live in short tunnels and accordingly are known by common names such as pygmy mole crickets, though they are not particularly closely related to the true "mole crickets", the (Gryllotalpidae), but are instead basal grasshoppers.