Mormon cricket

Mormon cricket

n. A large flightless migratory katydid (Anabrus simplex) of western North America that is often destructive to crops and forage plants.

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[Probably so called because the Mormon Church is prominent in the insect's range, and perhaps in direct reference to a swarm that threatened crops when Mormons first settled around the Great Salt Lake.]

Mor′mon crick′et

n. a flightless long-horned grasshopper, Anabrus simplex, of the western U.S., that is destructive to range grasses and cultivated crops. [1895–1900, Amer.]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

mormon cricket - large dark wingless cricket-like katydid of arid parts of western United StatesAnabrus simplexkatydid - large green long-horned grasshopper of North America; males produce shrill sounds by rubbing together special organs on the forewingsAnabrus, genus Anabrus - a genus of Tettigoniidae