I ’ve never been much of a lawn guy – I ’d prefer it if my property was a biodiverse food forest . But a little chip of sess is a nice thing , and I maintain a pocket-sized patch of it to enjoy pose on during the warm , summertime months . And just like a garden , a patch of grass has a legion of pestilence waiting to call it home as well as dinner . One such pestilence is the mole cricket . Mole cricket are the scourge of any lawn aficionado ’s existence and can bilk all of your heavy work assert a delicious , green patch of grass .
But there ’s a ground that humanity are eminent up on the solid food chain than these mole cricket – we can easily outsmart them and thwart their advances . In this article , we will explore what breakwater crickets are , what they do , and how we can get rid of them .
What are mole crickets?
Mole cricket are a species of cricket belonging to the insect kin Gryllotalpidae . They grow to be approximately an column inch and a one-half to two column inch prospicient and have large , shovel - like forelimb that avail with digging and burrowing . Their appearance and demeanor are what give them their name – they take care and bear quite a bit like a mole .
Mole crickets tend to be common in moist , warm surroundings . The southeast United States is where they seem to do the most damage . These pests are a hatful less common in cooler environment further north .
What do they do?
The hallmark of mole cricket is stagnant Gunter Grass and raised burrows . Mole cricket incline to be more appeal to lawn that have a lot of organic material left behind from the mowing mental process . They also like well - fertilized lawns as well as very damp lawns . A fertile , sozzled lawn with lots of thatch get out behind from mowing is pretty much the perfect habitat for mole crickets .
Mole crickets do wrong to grass by damaging the roots as they tunnel . These pesterer dig recondite burrows in which to lie in nut and be over wintertime . The disruption to the dirt makes it difficult for grass to go on to raise .
How to control mole crickets
There are chemical insecticides that you’re able to utilise to get disembarrass of your gram molecule crickets , but we do n’t recommend the spray of celluloid chemical , specially when it comes to maintaining something as non - all important as forage . One of the good ways to control the population of these pests is by apply parasitic nematodes to your lawn betimes in the spring . These parasites will set on and kill the adults .
Spring is a expert time to release the nematodes because that ’s when the female mole cricket lays eggs . If you could get to the adult before they reproduce , you could radically reduce the number of cricket you ’ll have to deal with after on in the year .
If you have find a chemical compound of mole cricket tunnels , do n’t attempt to travail them up ! you could really flush them out by adding a tablespoon of fluid soap , like dish soap or castile soap , to a gal of urine and pour the piss over the area where you suspect mole crickets are burrowing . If a few of these insects emerge , you in all likelihood have an plague in that area and additional nematode should be introduced . Crabanoid wasps and tachinid rainfly are also known to feed on these pestilence .
How to prevent mole cricket infestations
Ultimately , one of the good things you could do to deal with these pest is to prevent them from ever becoming a trouble . Routine lotion of parasitical nematode worm can facilitate keep them under restraint , as will preserve a clean lawn that does n’t have a lot of Edward Teach and is n’t overwatered .
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