Thankfully, here in California, we don’t really see many mole crickets. They tend to be in the southeastern states but are definitely making their way out west. I’m not gonna lie, in my opinion, mole crickets are adorable. Just look at those little hands! 😂 Ok, I may be alone in that one.
What Are Mole Crickets?
Mole crickets are crickets that resemble moles! Genius! There are 3 types of mole crickets; Short-Winged mole crickets, Southern mole crickets and Tawny mole crickets. Of the 3, the Tawny mole cricket tends to be the most destructive for homeowners because they feed on the turfgrass roots and shoots while their shallow tunnels are damaging to your lawn as well.
Do I Have Mole Crickets?
As mentioned before, mole crickets eat grass roots and shoots as well as create shallow tunnels just below the surface, so as you can imagine you could be seeing brown dead grass or loss of grass with evidence of tunneling.
| Life Cycle | Nov.-Feb. | Mar.-Apr. | May-Jul. | Aug.-Oct |
| Mating begins | X | |||
| Nymph Stage | X | |||
| Mature Adults | X | |||
| Overwintering- Little Activity | X |
How To Get Rid of Mole Crickets.
There are a few steps that you will need to do in order to achieve effective mole cricket control:
- You will need to determine whether or not you have mole crickets. Mole crickets can be identified by pouring a soapy mixture (2 tablespoons dish soap to 1 gallon of water) to the suspected area in the early morning or late evening. Within a few minutes you will see the soapy mixture flushing the mole crickets out.
- A successful mole cricket control program will take some time and patience. If you are able to treat your lawn in the early summer when the mole crickets are in the vulnerable nymph stage you may have an easier time of it because the weather is warm and the tunnels will be closer to the surface.
- Treat your lawn at the first signs of lawn damage with one our mole cricket control products
- The soil should be warm and moist, this will provide the most mole cricket activity thus improving the pesticide effectiveness.
Mole crickets will generally reinfest the same area of your lawn every year, so being mindful of this and monitoring these areas can make your treatment a lot more manageable.
