The Ant-loving Cricket is very small, about 1/8 inch (4 mm), brown with lighter bands on the abdomen and lacking wings. Their hind femurs are greatly enlarged and they have spines on the hind tibia. The number of spines and their arrangement can help to separate the four species of Myrmecophilus in North America. Their eyes are poorly developed since they live in almost total darkness of ant colonies their entire lives.
These well named crickets are inquilines (an animal that lives commensally in the nest, burrow, or dwelling place of an animal of another species) in the nests of ants. They are accepted by the ants because they produce chemicals that make them appear like ants. They are apparently not ant specific and can live in the nests of many different ant species. Note: Commensalism is defined as a relation between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter.
There are two possible species of Myrmecophilus that may be present in this area, M. pergandei (Eastern Ant-loving Cricket) and M. nebrascensis (Nebraska Ant-loving Cricket). They are very similar in appearance and can only be identified with clear photos of the tibial spines. Reproduction of offspring is asexual (parthenogenic).
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