Gryllotalpidae

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Polyneoptera
Order	Orthoptera
Suborder	Ensifera
Infraorder	Gryllidea
Superfamily	Gryllotalpoidea

Scientific Name

Gryllotalpidae

Common Name

mole crickets

Author: Dr. Steve L. Brown, Dr. Will Hudson, University of Georgia

Description

There are 3 species of mole crickets in Georgia, all with similar overall appearance. Adults are elongate, cylindrical, about 1" long, with jumping hind legs, and with front legs modified into short, broad spades with jagged edges that are held alongside and in front of the head. The wings lay flat along the back. Color ranges from golden-brown to gray-brown for the introduced (pest) species to rich, chestnut-brown for the native northern mole cricket, which is not a pest in most cases. Nymphs look like the adults but are without wings.

Hosts

Herbaceous plants, especially grasses.

Damage

The tawny mole cricket feeds on many types of herbaceous plants, but seems to prefer grasses (both turf and pasture). It also sometimes damages vegetable transplants, tobacco, and various bedding plants. The southern mole cricket is a predator, but sometimes causes mechanical damage to tender young plants as it tunnels along just below the surface hunting for worms and other small soil organisms.

Life Cycle

Mole crickets have one generation per year. Eggs are laid in the spring, in cells in the ground. These hatch mostly in May and June. Nymphs feed through the summer and fall, then overwinter either as new adults or large nymphs that become adults in early spring. Mating and dispersal flights occur in spring, mostly in April and May.

Control

Control can be difficult, as with all soil-dwelling insects. Best results are obtained from treatments applied in June, just as the eggs have hatched. Vegetable and tobacco transplants can be protected by treatments applied as the pests appear in the fields.

Originally compiled from

• Brown, S.L. and W. Hudson. Mole Crickets. University of Georgia.