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Mole Cricket

All crickets belong to the Family Gryllotalpidae. One cricket is known as a pest that damages grass. These crickets are known as mole crickets. They are found on every continent except for Antarctica. However, despite their prevalence, mole cricket populations are dwindling, as soil erosion is destroying their native habitats.

Mole crickets are nocturnal omnivores that live primarily underground and hibernate in winter. They measure between three and five centimeters in length and are thick-bodied with large, beady eyes. The forelimbs of the mole cricket are highly developed mechanisms used for burrowing and swimming purposes. Mole crickets are good fliers and may travel as far as five miles at a time during mating season. 

The most common mole cricket species are the western mole cricket, the prairie mole cricket, the European mole cricket, the oriental mole cricket, the African mole cricket, the northern mole cricket, the southern cricket, the Scudder short-winged cricket, the West Indian mole cricket, the imitator mole cricket and the Scudder tawny mole cricket. Mole crickets are divided between two-clawed and four-clawed species. 

The northern, western and prairie mole crickets are not considered pests, while immigrant species such as the European, oriental, short-winged, southern, West Indian, imitator and tawny mole crickets are. In the United States, mole crickets are most commonly found along the coast of Florida.

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