Mole crickets have been a major nuisance to turfgrass managers in the Southeast for a long time and they do not appear to be going away any time soon. Just when you think you have them under control they fly in overnight and regain a foothold.

Mole crickets usually get cooking in the spring, even though major damage may not be evident until the summer when nymphs have gotten larger. Scouting for nymphs using the soap flush method will help determine when mole crickets are active and which species are present. Knowing the species will dictate control measures.

Coastal Florida deals with all three major species of mole crickets, including the short-winged variety that can lay eggs year-round. Other parts of Florida and the Southeast are mostly dealing with southern and tawny mole crickets that lay their eggs from late March until June and hatch about three weeks later. South Florida typically has two major flights of southern mole crickets that occur in April and July.

Even though some level of damage can be found year-round, timing pesticide applications to deal with nymphs appears to be the best strategy. Controlling adults may be difficult and could require multiple strategies. Attempting to control adults in early spring is not recommended unless damage becomes unacceptable because many will die on their own before summer. Once most adults are gone, it is much easier to deal with nymphs after they have hatched.

Controlling mole crickets can be very difficult, but there are cultural, biological and chemical control methods available.

Cultural control

Turning off lights around the course at dusk for a couple of hours can reduce the number of mole crickets attracted to the area during their nightly flights. Conversely, lights can also be used to attract mole crickets to a specific area for spot treatment. There are even synthesized and recorded mating calls that can be used as “audio lure traps” for Scapteriscus mole crickets.

Biological control

Some biological control agents have been broadly distributed, including the nematode Steinernema scapterisci, Larra wasps and Brazilian red-eyed flies. Populations of these natural enemies of mole crickets have established over wide areas and appear to still be spreading.

Chemical control

There are many products available for controlling mole crickets when thresholds have been exceeded. These products would ideally be applied after most nymphs have hatched, which is typically May through June. Short-winged mole crickets can lay eggs year-round, making applications more difficult to time. To remove the guesswork, many superintendents use fipronil early in the spring since it can remain active in the soil for an extended period of time and often provides year-long control.

Getting a handle on mole crickets can be frustrating. But with a good plan, the right tools and well-timed control measures you may just be able to avoid a close encounter with this visitor from afar.

Southeast Region Agronomists:

Chris Hartwiger, director, Agronomy – chartwiger@usga.org

Jordan Booth, Ph.D., director, USGA Course Consulting Service – jbooth@usga.org

John Rowland, Ph.D., agronomist – jrowland@usga.org

Information on the USGA’s Course Consulting Service

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