Description: There are 3 species of mole crickets in Georgia, all with similar overall appearance. Adults are elongate, cylindrical, about 1" long, with jumping hind legs, and with front legs modified into short, broad spades with jagged edges that are held alongside and in front of the head. The wings lay flat along the back. Color ranges from golden-brown to gray-brown for the introduced (pest) species to rich, chestnut-brown for the native northern mole cricket, which is not a pest in most cases. Nymphs look like the adults but are without wings.

Hosts: herbaceous plants, especially grasses.

Damage: The tawny mole cricket feeds on many types of herbaceous plants, but seems to prefer grasses (both turf and pasture). It also sometimes damages vegetable transplants, tobacco, and various bedding plants. The southern mole cricket is a predator, but sometimes causes mechanical damage to tender young plants as it tunnels along just below the surface hunting for worms and other small soil organisms.

Life Cycle: Mole crickets have one generation per year. Eggs are laid in the spring, in cells in the ground. These hatch mostly in May and June. Nymphs feed through the summer and fall, then overwinter either as new adults or large nymphs that become adults in early spring. Mating and dispersal flights occur in spring, mostly in April and May.

Tawny mole crickets with nematodes emerging
Photo by: UGA Archives

Southern mole cricket
Photo by: UGA Archives

Southern mole cricket
Photo by: Will Hudson, UGA