Mole Crickets
Mole crickets are occasionally reported as being associated
with turf damage in Illinois.
These are the northern mole cricket, Neocurtilla
hexadactyla. Our climate is too cold for
the subtropical tawny mole cricket or others in the genus Scapteriscus
that are serious
turf pests from the Carolinas to eastern Texas on south.
The northern mole cricket, which is native to Illinois, feeds on plant
material in high
moisture situations. They appear to be primarily scavengers,
feeding on grass and other
plant material that is dying or rotting. I have collected
them several times in the mud
and debris under water at the edge of ponds and streams.
They are considered to be a
semi-aquatic insect.
Northern Mole Cricket
Adult northern mole crickets are medium to dark brown,
elongate, somewhat cylindrical,
and about one and one-quarter inch long. They have the
enlarged hind legs associated
with jumping in other crickets, but their most obvious
characters are widened, spade-like
tarsi at the end of the front legs. These crickets use their
mole-like front legs to dig
through the soil. Much of their tunneling is near the soil
surface, resulting in winding,
mole-like tunnels that are one-fourth to one-half inch high
and wide. Adults have wings,
allowing them to leave their burrows to fly at night. They
are attracted to lights at night,
which is where the average person is likely to see them.
They have one year life cycles. Males construct an enlarged
amplification chamber at their
burrow openings. They then sit in these chambers and sing to
attract females to them for
mating. Different species of mole crickets can be
distinguished readily by their song.
I have had golf course superintendents and others contact me
a few times over the years
about damage to turf by northern mole crickets. In each
case, it has been turf growing at
the edge of water hazards or ponds where the roots were
trying to grow in water-saturated
soil, and the turf was barely alive as a result. It was hard
to tell whether the mole
crickets were feeding on live grass or dying grass.
Mole crickets are controlled with the same insecticides as
those used for white grubs,
but if they are feeding on turfgrass that is already in
decline due to high soil moisture
levels, treatment should not be warranted.
Author:
Phil Nixon