Everything You Need to Know about Mole Crickets: Pest Control Midlothian, TX Experts Share their Knowledge

All seasoned Texan gardeners know or should know that the most dangerous pests for the turf and grasses are the soil pest insects one cannot see. Protected by the soil and living an undercover life deeply tunneling in the soil’s layers, such pests become a threat usually when it is too late. Today, our pest control Midlothian, TX specialists want to talk to you about mole crickets, some of the most dangerous and invasive soil pests in the state.

1. What is a Mole Cricket?

There are plenty of mole cricket species ravaging North Carolina, Florida and Texas, reaching California and Arizona as well, but one of them is extremely problematic: the Southern Mole Cricket. Just like other crickets, it does trill and chirp, but it also ravages the turf roots, old and new, unseen and undetected. While large in size (1 inch or more), this cricket does its dirty tricks in full hideout underneath the soil, this is why management and control are incredibly hard.

2. What Does the Mole Cricket Feed On?

Not pretentious and omnivorous, the mole cricket doesn’t have a sweet tooth for a specific plant, but will feed on everything green, roots, seedlings and turf grasses. The crickets display a very aggressive tunneling behavior and are thus considered an ecological threat – they destroy small seedlings and are able to pull small plants underground completely. They girdle plant roots underground and are a serious threat to bermudagrass and other turf varieties with less dense growth.

3. How Can You Know You Have a Mole Cricket Infestation on Your Property?

Pest control Midlothian, TX specialists have to, unfortunately, agree with horticulturists and expert botanists: you don’t know until it is too late. The problem with the mole cricket is that it lays its eggs deep inside the soil in spring. In early summer, when turf grasses have their best time to fast grow and evolve, under the soil, the cricket nymphs start feeding on them. Late summer and early fall find the underground crickets at their peak, as they grow in size and become more and more aggressive. Just like specialists say, if you get to see them or to witness the damages brought on your turf and garden, you are too late.

4. How Can You Control Mole Crickets?

You need to keep an eye on their reproductive cycle and have your pest control Midlothian, TX specialists assess the property. Effective mole cricket control means to get to them until they become too large in size.

• Applying targeted and tailored chemical pesticides in the spring (while they lay eggs) is a good preventative measure. Timing is of the essence: if you apply chemicals too early their effect will wear off until the eggs hatch; if you apply them too late, the nymphs will be large enough to not care.
• Improve soil moisture and irrigate before you apply a late summer or early fall chemical control program – dry soil means deeper hidden crickets that your products won’t reach to.
• Introduce baits – but follow all the instructions carefully and have your pest control Midlothian, TX specialists install them for you at the right time.