Acanthogryllus fortipes, or the brown cricket, is a species of cricket from southern Africa. It is mostly dark brown in colour and has a large head. It is a common species in short grass, including artificial habitats such as lawns and fields. Description This stocky cricket has a body length of about . It has a large, broad head and pronotum. It is dark brown in colour but has tan areas behind the head, on the sides of the prothorax and on the elytral (hardened forewing) margins. The fore tibia have a long, apical spur and the hind tibia have eight long spurs on both the inside and outside. Both sexes have wings. In females, the ovipositor is long, slightly shorter than the hind femur. Head The head is mostly blackish, although it has a tan band across the vertex. The face is also blackish, with orange brown mouth part and orange cheeks. Prothorax The upper part of the pronotum is patterned with dark brown and pale orange. The lateral lobes are black in the upper half and pale in the lower half. Wings The forewings are brown but are pale along the medial vein. They never extend to the end of the abdomen. In females they extend at least two thirds of the way down the abdomen. The hindwings usually extend slightly beyond the forewings and rarely beyond the end of the abdomen. They may also be completely hidden by the forewings. Legs The legs are pale brown or reddish brown and are often spotted or streaked with darker brown markings. The fore tibia have a large outer tympanum and a much smaller inner tympanum. The basal tarsomere is less than a third of its length. The hind tibia are dark brown with long, conspicuous spurs. The hind femurs are orange-brown with brown stripes on the outside. Distribution and habitat This species is found in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, where they are present in short cropped grass. They are particularly common in human altered landscapes, such as lawns. They have also been found near rivers in game reserves, which likely exhibits their natural habitat. While it is common in parts of South Africa, most notably KwaZulu-Natal, it is considered to be invasive in others, such as the Kruger National Park in the north of the country. Ecology Life cycle Adults are present between November and January. By late