North American Pygmy Mole Cricket vs Spinifex Termite

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute North American Pygmy Mole Cricket Spinifex Termite
Scientific Name Neotridactylus apicialis Nasutitermes longipennis
Order Orthoptera Blattodea
Family Tridactylidae Termitidae
Size 5-7 mm Workers 4-5 mm; soldiers 5-6 mm
Habitat Rivers & Streams Grasslands
Diet Herbivores Herbivores
Regions Eastern United States Australia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

North American Pygmy Mole Cricket

A minute mole cricket found on sandy shores of rivers and ponds in North America. It burrows just beneath the wet sand surface.

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Did You Know?

Its hind tibiae bear paddle-like swimming plates that allow it to skim across the surface of water when flooded out of its burrow.

Spinifex Termite

A mound-building termite common across the dry interior of Australia. Its hard earthen mounds dot the landscape of arid grasslands and are a key food source for echidnas.

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Did You Know?

Short-beaked echidnas tear open the rock-hard mounds with powerful claws to feast on the termites inside.