Mole Cricket: A Deadly Lawn Pest

Mole crickets are strange insects.  Their powerful forelegs let them bury themselves in sandy soils in seconds.  Like moles they live in the ground.  In spring winged adults emerge from the ground and fly in swarms after sundown, looking for mates and new ground where they can produce offspring’s.  Males tune their burrow entrances as loudspeakers that amplify and direct their calling songs skyward.  The louder they sing the more females (and competing males) they attract.

Though usually considered pest of grass on lawn, golf courses, and pasture, mole crickets have a broad diet.  The southern male cricket feeds mainly on other insect and the tawny male cricket feed on plants.  The shortwinged mole cricket feeds on grasses, but it generally hasn’t caused much damage in our state.  Plants injured by both tawny and southern mole cricket include tomato, strawberry, beet, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrot, cauliflower, collard, eggplant, kale, lettuce, onion, pepper, potato, spinach, sweet potato, turnip, chufa, peanut, sugar cane, tobacco, such flowers as coleus, chrysanthemum, and gypsophila, as well as weeds such as pigweed.  The tawny mole cricket often injures Bahiagrass and Bermudagrass, and the short winged mole cricket often attacks St. Augustine grass and Bermudagrass.  My information on mole crickets was provided by Dr. E.A. Buss, Entomologist with IFAS of the University of Florida.

Mole crickets can damage plants by feeding at night on above ground foliage or stem tissue and below ground on roots and tubers. Seedlings may be girdled at the stems near the soil surface, though some plants may be completely severed and pulled into a tunnel to be eaten. Mole cricket tunneling in the upper 2 ½ inches of soil dislodges plants or causes them to dry out.  Small mounds of soil are also pushed up.  They tunnel closer to the surface when the soil is moist and warm, but go deeper if the weather cools or the soil dries.  Tunneling reduces the aesthetic quality of turf grasses.

The southern and tawny mole crickets are similar in appearance and biology. The short winged mole cricket is different because its short wings prevent flight, and males have no calling song. Typically, the eggs of these three species are laid in April-May, and nymphs occur through August. In southern Florida, however, the short winged mole cricket can produce eggs throughout the year. Some adults occur in August.

Liquid and granular formulations of insecticides are commonly applied to the soil to suppress newly hatched mole cricket nymphs.  Small nymphs are easier to control early in the summer.  Pre-irrigation may be necessary so the soil is moist during the application.  Homeowners should run sprinklers for about an hour.  This helps the pesticide to penetrate into the soil, or in the case of baits, encourages the mole crickets to come to the surface to feed on the bait.  Some insecticides should be watered in after application to move them into the roots zone of plants where the mole crickets are feeding.  However, it is essential to read and understand the insecticide label carefully for application directions.

Bait formulations are useful against larger nymphs in late summer. Mole crickets feed at night, so baits should be applied in the early evening. Baits are incompatible with irrigation and rainfall.

For more specific insecticide recommendations, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service or Garden Center.  Additional information is available on the mole cricket websites:  http://molecrickets.ifas.ufl.edu/meri0001.htm, http://molecrickets.ifas.ufl.edu and http://biocontrol.ias.ufl.edu.