When you picture a cave, you probably think of an environment devoid of life. But for most caves on Earth, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Caves are remarkably good at supporting life. Underground air temperature and humidity levels are usually consistent. For vulnerable species unable to tolerate fluctuations above ground, caves are a haven. This is why ecologists think of caves as evolutionary time capsules. They preserve troglofauna – small animals living mostly or entirely within caves – that might have otherwise died out during ancient climate change events.

Australian caves are home to many such species, ranging from blind fishes, to blind eels, and even blind wasps.

Perhaps the weirdest are cave crickets. Cave crickets are spindly, spider-like insects very different to your average backyard cricket. They can’t chirp and are flightless. Because they can’t travel long distances, all of Australia’s species are endemic – that is, they’re found nowhere else.

When the pioneering entomologist Aola Richards retired in the 1980s, it was thought Australia only harboured 23 cave cricket species and knowledge of these creatures languished. But in our recent research, we found three new species – with more to come. One was named to honour Richards, and another uses Gundungurra language in a first for Western scientific naming.

Underground room service

The long legs and antennae of cave crickets mean that some people mistake them for spiders,........

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