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Mole Crickets Guide

Identify

Inspect

Treat

Prevent

Mole Cricket Identification Guide

What Are Mole Crickets?

Mole crickets are insects from the same family as grasshoppers and crickets, but they are notorious for being destructive lawn pests.

Do Mole Crickets Bite?
Mole crickets are not poisonous and generally do not bite humans. While they could technically bite if provoked, their bite is harmless. Mole crickets primarily harm turf, not people.

Mole Cricket Life Cycle
The life cycle of a mole cricket is straightforward. Adults lay eggs underground, which hatch into immature crickets called nymphs. These nymphs feed on grass roots and organic matter, tunneling beneath the soil and causing damage. Once matured, they mate, and the cycle begins again.

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Appearance

Mole crickets share some characteristics with true crickets, including their chirping noise and back legs similar to those of crickets or grasshoppers. While there are different species, they all look quite similar:

  • Gray to grayish-tan coloration
  • Covered in fine, velvety hairs
  • Large, beady eyes
  • Stocky, shovel-like front legs adapted for digging
  • Fully grown adults are about 1 inch long
  • Nymphs resemble adults but are smaller in size

When you spot a mole cricket, you’ll immediately notice its resemblance to the animal that inspired its name.

Mole Cricket Inspection Guide

Recognizing Mole Cricket Signs

Adult mole crickets lay their eggs in the soil, where the young nymphs live and feed until maturity. Their feeding and tunneling can severely damage your lawn.

Mole cricket damage includes:

  • Tunneling, which dries out grass
  • Root feeding, which kills grass

Knowing the signs of mole cricket activity and when the damage becomes visible is essential for proper inspection.

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Step1 Identify Mole Cricket Damage

Mole crickets cause significant turf damage by tunneling under the surface and feeding on grass roots and organic matter. Look for these signs:

  • Small surface bulges in the turf and soil, caused by shallow tunneling
  • A spongy lawn due to detachment from the roots
  • Grass browning and dying in areas of tunneling activity
  • Feeding activity directly leading to dead grass

Step2 Know When to Look for Damage

Mole crickets lay their eggs in late spring or early summer, and their nymphs develop underground.

  • Egg Laying and Mating: Adult mole crickets fly and mate during late spring and early summer.
  • Visible Damage: Feeding nymphs will cause noticeable damage in the spring after overwintering, as they resume feeding when temperatures rise.

While spring damage is a clear sign of mole cricket presence, it is harder to treat them at this stage as the crickets will be larger and more resistant to control methods.

Step3 Inspect for Nymphs in Summer

The best time to treat mole crickets is during the summer when nymphs are smaller. Inspect your lawn for nymphs using a simple soap flush test:

  1. Mix a solution of 2 tablespoons of dish soap with 1 gallon of water.
  2. Pour the solution onto a small, targeted area of your lawn that showed damage in the spring.
  3. Observe the area for a few minutes. If mole crickets are present, they will surface.

This test is most effective in the early morning or evening when mole crickets are active.

How to Get Rid of Mole Crickets

When to Treat Mole Crickets

Timing is critical for effective mole cricket control. Treating them while they are small and young is much easier, as they are more vulnerable during this stage. However, little to no visible damage will be present at this time.

By the time damage becomes apparent, typically in spring, mole crickets are larger and more resilient, making them harder to eliminate. The ideal time to treat is during their early life stages before significant damage occurs.

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Step1 Identify Problem Areas

Targeting Damage Sites

  • In the spring, mole cricket damage is most visible. Take note of where the damage appears to create a map of affected areas.
  • In early summer, test these areas by pouring a soapy water solution (2 tablespoons of dish soap per gallon of water) onto a small section of the turf. If mole crickets surface within a few minutes, you’ve identified the right spot to treat.

Step2 Apply Treatment at the Right Time

Timing for Effective Control

  • Treat mole crickets soon after they hatch in early summer to achieve faster knockdown and reduce future damage.
  • Focus on areas that showed mole cricket activity and damage in the spring.

Products we recommend for Step 2

Mole Cricket Treatment Infographic

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Mole Cricket Prevention Guide

Target the Early Life Stages

While it may not be possible to completely stop mole crickets from entering your yard or laying eggs in your soil, you can prevent damage by addressing them early in their life cycle.

Applying a long-lasting residual product designed for mole crickets can work proactively. These treatments target mole crickets shortly after eggs hatch, preventing young nymphs from causing damage to your lawn.

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Use a Long-Lasting Residual Treatment

Timing Is Key

  • Long-lasting residual treatments offer flexibility with application timing but must still be applied before egg hatch.
  • Apply in early summer before mole cricket eggs hatch to target just-emerged nymphs. This helps to prevent lawn damage and stops the crickets from maturing into larger, more destructive pests.

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