The Florida Mole Cricket

Florida Mole crickets are members of the insect family Gryllotalpidae, in the order Orthoptera (grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets). Mole crickets are cylindrical-bodied insects about 3–5 centimeters (1.2–2.0 in) long as adults. Their body contains small eyes and shovel-like forelimbs highly developed for burrowing. Mole Crickets are present in many parts of the world. There is a chance for it to become agricultural pests.

Three species of mole crickets, inadvertently introduced to the southeastern United States about 1900, caused severe plant damage. The introduced species are the short-winged mole cricket, Neoscapteriscus abbreviatus Scudder; the southern mole cricket, Neoscapteriscus borellii Giglio-Tos; and the tawny mole cricket, Neoscapteriscus vicinus Scudder.

This insect’s “hands” are uniquely adapted for digging, making it capable of tunneling through the soil. Sod farms, home lawns, golf courses, and pastures all play host to mole crickets. Mole crickets damage any species of turfgrass, but they particularly like bahiagrass and bermudagrass.

Mole crickets make tunnels in the ground, severing grassroots causing the earth to bulge upwards.

Florida Mole Crickets Eat

They eat the roots and shoots of grass.  Consequently, mole cricket damage looks like ugly brown patches. Predators such as raccoons and armadillos further dig up the turf to snack on the crickets. Mole cricket damage occurs in warmer climates, especially areas along the coast of the southeastern United States.

Their damage is recognized by irregularly raised burrows and dying grass.

Effective mole cricket control is dependent on the season and current life stage of the pest. Overwintered mole crickets become active in early spring. Treatment during this time reduces tunneling damage, is less effective as a later treatment. As a result, summer treatment is more effective on the vulnerable nymphs.

However, parasitic nematodes, which attack the adults, must be applied in spring before females lay their eggs. By the time damage is clearly visible, control is more difficult.