Triamescaptor aotea is 20–30 millimetres (0.79–1.18 in) long, and medium to dark brown in colour, with distinct protruding antennae and long rear processes (or cerci).
Its rear cerci are sensory, and in its tunnel it is able to move backwards as easily as forwards.
The first segment of its thorax is extended, rounded, and armoured.
Its front legs are heavily modified for digging, flattened and shovel-like, with just three claw-like processes or dactyls on its tibia (Gryllotalpa has four), two movable and one fixed.

The New Zealand mole cricket, unlike other species of Gryllotalpidae, has no wings, not even vestiges.
Because mole crickets produce sound by stridulation of their wings, this species is necessarily silent and lacks the ears other species have on their front tibia.
Any winged mole crickets found in New Zealand are likely to be introduced European Gryllotalpa, with which the New Zealand species has sometimes been confused.
Triamescaptor aotea is 20–30 millimetres (0.79–1.18 in) long, and medium to dark brown in colour, with distinct protruding antennae and long rear processes (or cerci). Its rear cerci are sensory, and in its tunnel it is able to move backwards as easily as forwards. The first segment of its thorax is extended, rounded, and armoured. Its front legs are heavily modified for digging, flattened and shovel-like, with just three claw-like processes or dactyls on its tibia (Gryllotalpa has four), two movable and one fixed.
The New Zealand mole cricket, unlike other species of Gryllotalpidae, has no wings, not even vestiges. Because mole crickets produce sound by stridulation of their wings, this species is necessarily silent and lacks the ears other species have on their front tibia. Any winged mole crickets found in New Zealand are likely to be introduced European Gryllotalpa, with which the New Zealand species has sometimes been confused.
New Zealand mole cricket