Reiner Richter/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC-SAWhen 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. An undescribed cave cricket species in the genus Speleotettix from the Dandenong Ranges, east of Melbourne. Reiner Richter/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC-SA Underground room serviceThe long legs and antennae of cave crickets mean that some people mistake them for spiders, but these animals are harmless.As their common name suggests, cave crickets thrive in cool, dark and humid environments such as caves.These crickets also play a critical ecological role in cave ecosystems – by leaving them. When night falls, these savvy scavengers leave the cave entrance and venture above ground to forage for food, chomping on vegetation, other insects and whatever they can get their six legs on.Food is in short supply in caves. This is why cave crickets are so vital – they can be prey for other species, while the nutrients they bring back and poo out act as a crucial top-up for other species, such as bats. They’re essentially cave room service.How we found and named three new speciesDespite the uniqueness of Australia’s cave crickets, research has been minimal since the late Aola Richards retired. Richards was responsible for naming almost all cave cricket species in Australia and New Zealand. We had a hunch there were more to find which hadn’t yet been described, based on our fieldwork and observations by citizen scientists. We worked with experienced cavers to collect crickets from the entrances of caves and abandoned mineshafts in Victoria and New South Wales.In the lab, we examined dozens of specimens in detail. By comparing their physical characteristics with species already known to science, we were able to find three different types of cave cricket in the Speleotettix genus. To make sure our identification was correct, we sequenced their DNA and compared it to known species. All three were distinct. Tiny differences in the base pairs of their DNA – often referred to as the building blocks of life – provide a reliable way of determining when one species is distinct from another.Finding a nameNaming a species might sound simple. In reality, it’s a long and complicated process with important implications for conserving our native species. Without a formal name, species aren’t eligible for protection under Australia’s environmental laws - effectively rendering them invisible.We chose the names Speleotettix aolae, S. binoomea, and S. palaga.The first species was named to acknowledge Richards’ huge contribution to our knowledge of cave crickets. In fact, several specimens of S. aolae were collected by Richards more than 60 years ago. These museum specimens proved essential in understanding where the new species were found.Speleotettix aolae and S. palaga were collected from caves and mineshafts in Victoria, while S. binoomea is from the World Heritage-listed Jenolan Caves and surrounding cave systems in NSW. The new species Speleotettix palaga sits deep inside a disused gold mine near Blackwood, Victoria. The name is Latin for gold ingot, alluding to the history of the site. Paul George/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC-SA First Gundungurra word in a species nameThe Gundungurra people are the Traditional Custodians of the Jenolan Caves. We named the species found in these and surrounding caves Speleotettix binoomea. Binoomea means “dark places” in Gundungurra, and is used by the Gundungurra people to refer to the Jenolan Caves. To select the name, we worked with Gundungurra Elder Aunty Sharyn Halls and the Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust.The choice of name recognises the deep cultural link between this species, the Jenolan Caves, and their Traditional Custodians.To our knowledge, this is the first time a Gundungurra word has been used in the the Western scientific naming process. Thousands of Australian species still without namesAustralia and New Zealand are home to an estimated 225,000 species of insects.Most of these are sorely understudied. In fact, only a third of our insect fauna has been formally named, and many are entirely unknown to science. That is, we estimate they should exist but a lack of study means they’ve never even been collected, let alone named.Today, fewer than 30 Australian cave cricket species have been formally described. Our field collections and genetic analyses suggest the true number is at least double this amount.The first step to protect a species is to describe it and name it. Once a species has a formal name, scientists and authorities can assess their risk of extinction and work to protect them. Caves have long been a refuge, but this isn’t guaranteed. As the climate changes, drier, hotter conditions will intrude into caves. That could pose an existential threat to cave crickets and other cave dwellers, many of which can quickly dry out. We hope this research will revive interest in Australia’s cave crickets and represents a crucial first step towards protecting these strange animals.Perry G. Beasley-Hall receives funding from the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS).Brock A. Hedges receives funding from The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).