In Latvia, the Insect of the Year has been named - reproduces without males, but they are somehow present 0 6

As noted by the society, the findings of this species make Latvia the northernmost boundary of its distribution range. In neighboring Lithuania, the ant cricket was first recorded in 2017.

It is still unclear whether the species is spreading north due to climate change or if it has previously gone unnoticed due to its small size and secretive lifestyle.

Ant crickets belong to the class Insecta and the order Orthoptera — just like the more well-known grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets. The ant cricket is currently the only known species in Latvia from the family Myrmecophilidae and the genus Myrmecophilus. A total of 66 species are currently known in this genus.

The species term itself is also interesting, as it hints at the lifestyle characteristics of these insects. Ant crickets are myrmecophiles and kleptoparasites — this means that their survival completely depends on ants from the family Formicidae.

Ant crickets inhabit the nests of more than 20 species of ants, where they steal and consume ant eggs, ant prey, as well as carbohydrate- and protein-rich secretions produced by the ants.

So why are such unwelcome guests not expelled from the ant nest? Ant crickets have characteristic adaptations that allow them to deceive the inhabitants of the nests by mimicking the movements of ants, as well as their chemical and tactile signals. Upon settling in a new ant nest, crickets gradually cover their bodies with a layer of hydrocarbons characteristic of the cuticle of ants, which reduces aggression towards them.

As explained by the society,

the ant cricket may externally resemble an ant more than crickets or their related grasshoppers and locusts at first glance.

These are atypically small representatives of the order Orthoptera — their body length does not exceed 3.5 millimeters. Their wings are completely reduced, and their bodies have a dark, reddish-brown coloration. However, ant crickets retain the powerful hind legs characteristic of Orthoptera.

Although many species of grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets in Latvia are known for their "music" — the sounds they produce while stridulating, for ant crickets this feature has proven insignificant during evolution. They do not produce sounds and do not perceive them. In other Orthoptera, stridulation plays an important role in finding a mate of the opposite sex, while female ant crickets are capable of reproducing through parthenogenesis — from unfertilized eggs.

This is the primary way populations of this species reproduce in Europe.

Populations consist predominantly of females, and males of this species were only described in 2021, making the ant cricket a particularly interesting object for research. In Latvia, only females have been observed so far.

According to the Dabasdati portal, the ant cricket has been recorded in Riga, Jelgava, and Liepaja. Unlike other Orthoptera, this species is found throughout the summer: the earliest known observation in Latvia dates back to May, and the latest to August. In Europe, the activity period of this species is even longer.