Be on the lookout for mole crickets
Home & Garden Tips
By Roosevelt McWilliams

When mole crickets get together on grass you don't want it to be your ground. The pesky insects

damage turf grasses in the coastal plain and occasionally in Piedmont area of Georgia. They're active

from

early spring to late fall, but damage turf the most in late summer and early fall. The best time to treat is around the latter part of June when all of the season's eggs have hatched but the nymphs are still too small to do much damage.

Mole crickets spend the winter mostly as adults in the soil. As the weather warms, adults emerge and begin to feed and mate, beginning in March and continuing into May and June. Mole crickets lay eggs in the soil mostly in April and May. A single female may lay as many as six or eight clutches of about 40 eggs per clutch.

Mole cricket control is difficult even if good methods and procedures are followed. If poor methods of application are used such as bad timing or improper application of the chemical or bait itself, the results at best will be average and in most cases very unsatisfactory.

It is important to have some knowledge of the mole cricket in order to recognize its damage and to determine type of control. In the early part of the year adult mole crickets make up the majority of the population. They mate and start laying eggs in April and May. The eggs hatch and young mole crickets begin to grow. In the latter part of June the population begins to shift to more nymphs (young mole crickets) rather than adults. The nymphs continue to grow and in October the majority of its population shifts back to being adults.

Also, it is important to know that the mole cricket is more active in warm moist soils and in the late afternoon or night. The mole cricket is most active when nighttime temperatures are above 50 degrees F. and when there is moisture in the soil. When the mole cricket becomes more active, it is in the upper part of the soil thus easier to control. As temperatures and moisture drops, he goes deeper in the soil thus control is harder.

Mole crickets are attracted to well lit areas. They are attracted to bug lights and outside lights and the soil under these lights are often where mole crickets get started.

Mole cricket damage can be recognized by soft and spongy soil, small pencil size holes in the soil, and by tunneling just under the soil line. If you are not sure of mole cricket infestation, take a 5 gallon bucket of water and mix in 1 ½ cups of strong washing detergent. Pour over a suspected area. If mole crickets are present, they will come to the top of the soil. Adult mole crickets are attracted to baits and good control of adults can be accomplished with baits applied under the right conditions of moist soil, warm night temperatures and applied in late afternoon. Mole cricket nymphs are not attracted to baits like the adults and soil treatments with insecticides seem to work better. You may purchase a bait or make your own.

Mole cricket control is a continuing battle and no one treatment will eliminate crickets for good.