Described in a new study, published in the\u00a0Journal of Orthoptera Research<\/a>,\u00a0D. balrogi\u00a0has a brown body and long, arching legs, which it uses to cling firmly to walls and overhanging surfaces.<\/p>\n Located off the south-east coast of Greece, Kastellorizo is a small island measuring about 6km long and 3km wide. It is known among biologists for its rare invertebrates<\/a> \u2013 including scorpions, isopods, bush-crickets and beetles<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Keen to learn more about Kastellorizo\u2019s fauna, a team of researchers decided to venture into the island\u2019s only land cave, a 25m-deep, man-made tunnel on the slopes of Mount Vigla. To their surprise, they noticed the walls of the tunnel were scattered with crickets.\u00a0<\/p>\n Detailed morphological analysis and DNA testing of the specimens allowed the researchers to confirm the cricket as a new species. The discovery increases the number of\u00a0Dolichopoda\u00a0species to 68, with 51 of these occurring in Greece.<\/p>\n Unlike Tolkien\u2019s formidable Balrog,\u00a0with its fiery whips,\u00a0D. balrogi\u00a0is harmless, yet no less impressive for its ability to thrive in darkness.<\/p>\n \u201cThese findings remind us that biodiversity discoveries are not limited to remote tropical forests or deep oceans,\u201d says lead researcher Konstantinos Kalaentzis. \u201cEven familiar landscapes and human-made structures can harbour species that have remained unnoticed.\u201d<\/p>\n The researchers warn that cave-adapted organisms such as Dolichopoda crickets are sometimes only found in a single cave or underground system, making them particularly vulnerable\u00a0to habitat disturbance.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA more detailed and specialised survey of the island\u2019s caves should be conducted to determine whether additional populations of the species exist on the island,\u201d say the authors in the study. \u201cFurthermore, it would be valuable to consider possible management strategies to ensure the conservation of the population.\u201d<\/p>\n Top image: Artificial tunnel of Kastellorizo. Credit: Konstantinos Kalaentzis<\/p>\n More amazing wildlife stories from around the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new species of cave cricket has been found living within an artificial tunnel on the Greek island…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[61,60,82],"class_list":["post-472880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dolichopoda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dolichopoda-balrogi-scaled.jpeg\")
Newly discovered Dolichopoda balrogi (female) in the artificial tunnel on the island of Kastellorizo, Greece. Credit: Konstantinos Kalaentzis<\/p>\n