Skip to main content
Jerusalem Cricket (Potato Bug) (Stenopelmatus fuscus)
Deceptive
81Six Legs
Bug Bite · From the file on Jerusalem Cricket (Potato Bug)

Jerusalem crickets are NOT true crickets (family Gryllidae) and not from Jerusalem — the common name origin is unclear and possibly a corruption of an indigenous word or early naturalist label.

AgencyRoyal Entomological SocietyVerified by sources
Read the full file on Jerusalem Cricket (Potato Bug)

More Deceptive bites

Common Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius)
Deceptive
Six Legs79

Bed bug saliva contains both an anticoagulant and a mild anesthetic — most people don't feel the bite while it's happening.

Common Bed BugVerified by sources
Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho menelaus)
Deceptive
Six Legs73

Only male blue morphos are blue — females are typically brown with white spots.

Blue Morpho ButterflyVerified by sources
Human Botfly (Dermatobia hominis)
Deceptive
Six Legs87

Female botflies have been documented hijacking at least 40 different species of biting insects — not just mosquitoes.

Human BotflyVerified by sources
Brown Recluse (Loxosceles reclusa)
Deceptive
Six Legs79

The violin-shaped marking on the cephalothorax gives the brown recluse its other common name: fiddleback spider.

Brown RecluseVerified by sources
Brown Recluse (Loxosceles reclusa)
Deceptive
Six Legs79

Over 1,000 'brown recluse bite' diagnoses have been recorded in California, Florida, and Oregon — places the spider has never lived. Most are misdiagnosed.

Brown RecluseVerified by sources
Brown Recluse (Loxosceles reclusa)
Deceptive
Six Legs79

Most real recluse bites happen when humans roll onto a hidden spider in bed — the spider isn't aggressive, just trapped.

Brown RecluseVerified by sources