Jerusalem Cricket Definition

noun

Any of a family (Stenopelmatidae) of burrowing, wingless, long-horned crickets common in dry regions of W U.S.

Webster's New World

Any of several nocturnal burrowing orthopteran insects of the subfamily Stenopelmatinae, especially Stenopelmatus fuscus of western North America, having a large round head and a striped abdomen.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
Stenopelmatus fuscus
sand cricket

Other Word Forms of Jerusalem Cricket

Noun

Singular:

Jerusalem cricket

Plural:

jerusalem-crickets

Origin of Jerusalem Cricket

Perhaps from Jerusalem! exclamation uttered upon encountering the large insect or from partial translation during contact between the Navajo and Christian missionaries of Navajo ch’osh bich’ich łichii’ red-skull bug (in reference to the skull-like appearance of its head and the hill of Golgotha outside Jerusalem, whose name is said in the Bible (Mark 15:22) to mean place of a skull)

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition