Cricket Strepsipteran vs Marbled Minor

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Cricket Strepsipteran Marbled Minor
Scientific Name Caenocholax fenyesi Oligia strigilis
Order Strepsiptera Lepidoptera
Family Myrmecolacidae Noctuidae
Size 1.5-3.0 mm (males) 24-28 mm wingspan
Habitat Underground Underground
Diet Parasites Root Feeders
Regions North America, Central America Europe
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Cricket Strepsipteran

An unusual strepsipteran whose males parasitize ants while females parasitize crickets. This dual-host system is unique among parasites.

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Did You Know?

Males and females of this species parasitize completely different insect orders, a phenomenon unique to the family Myrmecolacidae.

Marbled Minor

A small, cryptically marked moth that is extremely variable in pattern. Part of a complex of similar-looking species that can only be reliably separated by dissection.

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Did You Know?

Part of a notoriously difficult species complex where three species look almost identical.