The New International Encyclopædia/Mormon Cricket

MORMON CRICKET. Either of the wingless migratory crickets, Anabrus simplex and Anabrus purpurescens. These are large, peculiarly shaped crickets, which occasionally multiply so greatly in their native home in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains that they migrate to the plains below, and destroy all cultivated crops. As they are wingless, they move but slowly, and may often be checked by ditches. A plowed field in their course forms a difficult barrier, and an approaching army may be destroyed by means of heavy rollers. They are pugnacious and will fight among themselves, and are to a certain extent carnivorous, devouring their injured comrades. For many years they have been especially abundant and injurious in portions of Montana and Idaho.