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Brachytrupes membranaceus, the tobacco cricket, is a species of cricket in the family Gryllidae. It is a pest of crops including young tobacco plants. There are four subspecies, all of which are native to Africa.

Brachytrupes membranaceus is nocturnal. It digs a burrow that may be 50 to 80 centimetres (20 to 30 in) deep, with chambers in which it stores food. The burrow is dug by the mandibles, and the fore-legs are used to move loose soil and push it out of the entrance. An adult cricket may form a mound up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in height beside the burrow entrance.

The crickets live almost entirely underground, each in its own burrow. Mating takes place in the male's burrow and the female may remain there till the eggs are laid, in a walled-off side tunnel.

The diet is grasses, succulent parts of plants and the suckers of trees such as Brachystegia and Isoberlinia. In cultivated areas, foodstuffs may include seedlings, transplanted plants, vegetables, tobacco, maize and field beans. Vegetable matter is carried underground and packed into storage chambers.