''Grylloblatta'' is a genus of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s in the family

Grylloblattidae Grylloblattidae, commonly known as the icebugs, or ice crawlers, is a family of extremophile ( psychrophile) and wingless insects that live in the cold on top of mountains and the edges of glaciers. They belong, along with Mantophasmatidae (r ...

. It contains 15 species, including ''

Grylloblatta chirurgica ''Grylloblatta chirurgica'' is a species of insect in family Grylloblattidae. Like other species in the genus, it is endemic to the United States. This species is also known as the Mount Saint Helens grylloblatid, and is found at high elevations ...

'', almost exclusively from high-altitude and high-latitude regions of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, living in

ice cave An ice cave is any type of natural cave (most commonly lava tubes or limestone caves) that contains significant amounts of perennial (year-round) ice. At least a portion of the cave must have a temperature below 0 °C (32 °F) all ...

s and

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

s. The genus was first described by

Edmund Walker Sir Byron Edmund Walker, CVO (14 October 1848 – 27 March 1924) was a Canadian banker. He was the president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce from 1907 to 1924, and a generous patron of the arts, helping to found and nurture many of Canada's ...

in 1914, based on a single species, ''

Grylloblatta campodeiformis ''Grylloblatta campodeiformis'', also known as the northern rock crawler, is an omnivorous species of insect in family Grylloblattidae. Like other species in the genus '' Grylloblatta'', it is endemic to North America. Taxonomy This species was ...

''.

Species

These 15 species belong to the genus ''Grylloblatta'': * '' Grylloblatta barberi'' Caudell, 1924^{i c g} * '' Grylloblatta bifratrilecta'' Gurney, 1953^{i c g b} * ''

'' E. M. Walker, 1914^{i c g b} (northern rock crawler) * '' Grylloblatta chandleri'' Kamp, 1963^{i c g} * ''

Grylloblatta chintimini ''Grylloblatta chintimini'' is a species of rock crawler in the family Grylloblattidae. It is found in the state of Oregon in the United States. Its type locality is Marys Peak Marys Peak (formerly Mary's Peak and sometimes still spelled th ...

'' Marshall & Lytle, 2015^{i c g b} * ''

'' Gurney, 1961^{i c g b} (Mount St Helens' grylloblattid) * ''

Grylloblatta gurneyi ''Grylloblatta gurneyi'' is a species of wingless insect in the family Grylloblattidae. Its type locality is Lava Beds National Monument in northeastern California, United States. Habitat It is found in lava tube A lava tube, or pyrodu ...

'' Kamp, 1963^{i c g} * ''

Grylloblatta marmoreus ''Grylloblatta marmoreus'' is a species of cave-dwelling insect in the family Grylloblattidae. Its type locality is in the Marble Mountains of California, United States. Entomology ''G.marmoreus'' was described from a male found on a rock in P ...

'' Schoville, 2012^{i c g} * ''

Grylloblatta newberryensis ''Grylloblatta newberryensis'' is a species of insect in the family Grylloblattidae. It is found in central Oregon, United States. Its type locality is Newberry Volcano in central Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific ...

'' Marshall and Lytle, 2015^{i c g} * ''

Grylloblatta oregonensis ''Grylloblatta oregonensis'' is a species of insect in the family Grylloblattidae. Its type locality is in Oregon Caves National Monument Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve is a protected area in the northern Siskiyou Mountains of s ...

'' Schoville, 2012^{i c g} * ''

Grylloblatta rothi ''Grylloblatta rothi'' is a species of insect in the family Grylloblattidae found in Oregon. Its type locality is Happy Valley in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is also known from Mount Hood Mount Hood is a potentially active ...

'' Gurney, 1953^{i c g} * ''

Grylloblatta scudderi ''Grylloblatta scudderi'', also known as Scudder's rock crawler, is a species of Grylloblattidae. It was first described in 1979. It is endemic to British Columbia, Canada, and is unranked by NatureServe as of January 2021. The first specimens w ...

'' Kamp, 1979^{i c g} * ''

Grylloblatta sculleni ''Grylloblatta sculleni'' is a species of insect in the family Grylloblattidae that is found in Oregon, United States. Its type locality is Scott Camp in Deschutes County, Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest ...

'' Gurney, 1937^{i c g} * ''

Grylloblatta siskiyouensis ''Grylloblatta siskiyouensis'' is a species of insect in the family Grylloblattidae. Its type locality is in Oregon Caves National Monument in the United States. Range Although it is currently known only from Oregon Caves National Monument, it ...

'' Schoville, 2012^{i c g} * '' Grylloblatta washoa'' Gurney, 1961^{i c g} Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

Novel species

Based on genetic studies and other evidence, Schoville (2013) identifies the following as potential new species. *''Grylloblatta'' sp. "South Ice Cave" – Deschutes County *''Grylloblatta'' sp. "

Glacier Peak Glacier Peak or Dakobed (known in the Sauk-Suiattle dialect of the Lushootseed language as "Tda-ko-buh-ba" or "Takobia") is the most isolated of the five major stratovolcanoes (composite volcanoes) of the Cascade Volcanic Arc in the U.S state of ...

" *''Grylloblatta'' sp. "

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a ...

" *''Grylloblatta'' sp. "Sawyer's Ice Cave 1" – Linn County and Yakima County *''Grylloblatta'' sp. "Sawyer's Ice Cave 2" – Linn County *''Grylloblatta'' sp. "Trout Lake Caves" – Klickitat County *''Grylloblatta'' sp. "Central Sierra Nevada" – Sixty Lake Basin,

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populous city in Cal ...

*''Grylloblatta'' sp. " Tioga Crest" –

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

and

Inyo National Forest Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest po ...

*''Grylloblatta'' sp. "Graveyard Lake" –

Sierra National Forest Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of central Sierra Nevada in Central California and bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is know ...

*''Grylloblatta'' sp. " Ostrander Lake" –

*''Grylloblatta'' sp. "Southwest Sierra Nevada" –

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of ...

and environs *''Grylloblatta'' sp. "Lilburn cave" –

*''Grylloblatta'' sp. "

Trinity Mountains The Trinity Mountains are a subrange of the Klamath Mountains, one of the ranges within the California Coast Ranges and part the greater Pacific Coast Ranges, the coastal mountain system extending from Mexico to Alaska. The Trinity Mountains subra ...

" – Shasta–Trinity National Forest *''Grylloblatta'' sp. nov. "

Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the east ...

" –

Olympic National Forest Olympic National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in Washington, USA. With an area of , it nearly surrounds Olympic National Park and the Olympic Mountain range. Olympic National Forest contains parts of Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jeffer ...

, near The Brothers *''Grylloblatta'' sp. " Mount Spokane" *''Grylloblatta'' sp. "Polaris Peak" –

Coeur d'Alene National Forest The Coeur d'Alene is a U.S. National Forest located in the Idaho panhandle and is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National Forests (the other two are the Kaniksu and St. Joe National Forests). Coeur d'Alene Nati ...

Life cycle

Individuals have lifespans of between 6 to 10 years.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1383624 Grylloblattidae Insects of the United States Taxa named by Edmund Murton Walker Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Psychrophiles