We need, in other words, your pictures of what lives in your basement and as we get them we will, in real time, update our paper as a reflection of what you show us. You can help us find the giant cricket, help us know it. You, the banker. You, the kid. You, the scientist who just doesn’t get enough science at work.

But here is the cool trick. As the data come in, we will put the data all online so that anyone who is interested can evaluate what seems to be limiting the distribution of camel crickets in general or the introduced camel cricket in particular. Is it climate? Is it forest? Is it just time? If you find an elegant way of considering this question (or even of depicting other aspects of what we are finding), you have the potential to be an author on our paper on camel crickets. In each step of finishing our paper on these crickets, the paper itself and the process of discovery will be fully public (and this includes the process of review of this work by our peers).

And so when we say that “citizen scientists document the spread of giant cricket,” we mean to say that they have. But we also mean that this process is ongoing, that you can help us to understand this animal. All it takes is a phone with a camera on it (or a camera you can connect to your computer) and the wherewithal to go boldly into your basement or crawlspace or even under your bed. You could be the first person to record this cricket for your town, city or even state.

So go now and check. We will wait.

Visit our new Camel Cricket Census project page — http://crickets.yourwildlife.org — to learn more and upload your photos today!