Northern Mole Cricket

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Common names: Northern Mole Cricket

Scientific name: Neocurtilla hexadactyla

Region: This cricket is found throughout North America.

Life cycle: This insect produces one generation each year and can overwinter in all stages in burrows within the soil.

Physical Description: This 1 1/4 inch long cricket is brown and pale underneath its hairy body.  It has sturdy shovel like front legs that are adapted for digging into the soil and is a strong nocturnal flier.  It lays its eggs within the soil.

Feeding characteristics: This pest will attack most garden and nursery plants by tunneling near the surface of the soil eating and cutting off the roots of seedlings, and may even uproot young plants.  They will also eat seeds, and chew off stems at the soil surface and pull the plants down into their tunnels.

Controls: Spray the foliage and stems of your crop with a hot pepper spray.  The ingredients are hot-pepper pods, pure soap, and water.  The proportions are up to you. Toads and birds are also natural predators.