Mole Cricket Control: How To Kill Mole Crickets

Content:

Types of Mole Crickets
Signs That You Have Mole Crickets
Food Source
How To Check For Mole Cricket
How To Kill Mole Crickets in Your Lawn
How To Get Rid of Mole Crickets Indoors
Conclusion

As their name suggests, mole crickets are insects that look like moles. They are widespread across the majority of the country, but the southeast is where they harm lawns the most.

They eat the roots and stems of grass plants as they dig through the soil close to the surface.

Adult mole crickets are 1-2 inches long, with huge, beady eyes, spade-like front legs used for digging, and grayish-brown bodies, however, you seldom ever see them because they reside underground.

Mole crickets are not very adept at jumping, in contrast to other cricket species.

Types of Mole Crickets

There are three kinds of mole cricket that can cause serious harm in the Southeast United States. Although common, northern mole crickets and European mole crickets are not regarded as pests.

Short-Winged Mole Cricket

Southern Florida and southern Georgia are the two main locations for the short-winged mole cricket.

Southern Mole Cricket

From North Carolina south to Florida and west to Arizona, the southern mole cricket can be found.

Tawny Mole Cricket

The tawny mole cricket can be found all over Florida and from North Carolina to Louisiana.

The southeastern United States is plagued by a serious problem with mole crickets.

Although mole crickets will consume both plants and animals, they are most well-known for the harm their digging causes to lawns.

The top 1-2 inches of soil are tunneled through by mole crickets, causing the soil to become loose and uproot grass plants, which eventually wither and die. The most serious damage is found in young, recently planted lawns.

Signs That You Have Mole Crickets

Mole crickets can dig tunnels as deep as 10 to 20 feet and eat at night. Observe the following:

Small dirt mounds could be strewn throughout the soil’s surface.

Due to the turf’s separation from the soil, your lawn could feel spongy when you walk on it.

In regions where mole crickets have dug tunnels, grass eventually turns brown and dies.

Food Source

There is a preferred food source for each species of mole cricket. The tawny mole cricket prefers St. Augustine and bermudagrass while the short-winged mole cricket prefers Bahia and bermudagrass lawns.

Feeding on other insects is preferred by the southern mole cricket. The sensitivity of turfgrasses to mole cricket damage also varies.

While St. Augustine is more resilient to injury, Bahia and Bermuda Grass are more easily harmed. Rarely are centipedes and zoysiagrass harmed by mole crickets.

How To Check For Mole Cricket

With soapy water, mole crickets and their nymphs can be flushed from the soil.

A gallon of water should have around 2 teaspoons of dish soap added. Pour it over an area measuring 1-2 square feet in the early morning or late at night.

If you have mole crickets, they will soon rise to the soil’s surface. It’s time to treat your lawn if you detect two or more mole crickets coming to the surface. (Keep in mind to completely rinse the area with water after using soapy water.)

How To Kill Mole Crickets in Your Lawn

Because they spend the day underground in burrows that are far below the soil’s surface and only come to the surface at night, mole crickets can be challenging to eradicate.

Early summer or the first indication of lawn damage are the best times to apply treatments. When they are young, mole crickets are most susceptible (nymph stage). They are smaller and nearer the soil surface at this stage.

Prior to application, moisten the soil to encourage mole crickets to surface. Then, apply Lawn Insect Killer according to the product’s label instructions to kill mole crickets on the lawn.

How To Get Rid of Mole Crickets Indoors

Mole crickets could occasionally get into your house. They cause no harm and are absolutely harmless indoors. Sweeping them up and putting them back outside is the simplest way to handle them.

However, if you frequently discover mole crickets within your house, close up any cracks, gaps, or openings near the house’s foundation and use Insect Killer according to the label’s instructions to build an exterior perimeter barrier.