In the spring of 1848, their first in the Salt Lake valley, Mormon settlers’ crops were attacked by swarms of insects. According to Mormon folklore, the crops were saved when seagulls (miraculously?) appeared, eating the insect threat. Ever since then, those insects, Anabrus simplex, have been commonly known as ____ ____ (even though they’re actually a type of katydid). Seagulls are still just called seagulls.
Mormon Crickets