Sure, the Mormon cricket is just an insect, but that name, frankly, just bugs the heck out of a Utah lawmaker.
And he wants to change it.
Introduced by Rep. Doug Owens, a Millcreek Democrat, HB348 would require the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food to petition the Entomological Society of America to assign the Anabrus simplex a new common name — ideally one that is “respectful, inclusive and accurately descriptive.”
What’s wrong with the current name?
Well, for one, the flightless bug known for its voracious appetite is not actually a cricket but rather a shield-backed katydid. For another, leaders of Utah’s predominant faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have invested a great deal in recent years to cast off the “Mormon” moniker, a point Owens notes in his bill.
Does the name really violate church guidelines?
Speaking in 2018, church President Russell M. Nelson declared the church’s full name was “not negotiable” and that opting for shorthands like the M-word represented “a major victory for Satan.”
That edict came with caveats, however.
Per the church’s own style guide, “Mormon,” when “correctly used in proper names” or as an adjective in “such historical expressions as ‘Mormon Trail,’” is permissible.
Might the same apply to scientific identifiers?
Either way, Owens is committed to the cause, explaining that the problem is in the specific pairing of the “Mormon” term with an insect many regard as a pest.
“People refer to it so pejoratively,” the Latter-day Saint Democrat said, “that it feels like a slur.”
The value of common names
Utah State University-Tooele entomologist Joseph Wilson recently wrote a paper on the role and power of common names. His take: The more scientists allow these nicknames to develop and spread organically, the better.
Common names, the bee and wasp expert argues, “are reflective of the relationships that these communities have with the organism.” Change them, and you change people’s connection to the bug — or bird, or whatever it might be.
The Mormon cricket, Wilson argued, is a prime example.
For many, the name recalls the story told in countless Latter-day Saint publications and sermons of the 1848 episode in which pioneers, watching in desperation as the insect devoured their crops, prayed for help. In response, they say, God sent a massive flock of seagulls, which feasted on the tiny critters.
(Rick Bowmer | AP) Mormon crickets shown in 2023. A Utah lawmaker wants to change this common scientific name of the insect.
Replace its name with “Great Basin shield-backed katydid,” Wilson said, and one loses this story.
Owens stressed that historical erasure is not the bill’s intent, but that there were other options — “pioneer cricket,” for instance — that could serve the same purpose without the baggage.
He said he would also like to see Native groups be given a say in the renaming process (Paiutes historically consumed the insect as a protein source).
Wilson offered his own suggestion, if indeed the name must change to accommodate modern sensibilities.
“Why not,” he chuckled, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints katydid?”
