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Neocurtilla hexadactyla (Perty)
(Nay-oh-kurt-ILL-a hexa-DAKT-ill-a)
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Distribution
The northern mole cricket is found in the eastern and central states from Nebraska to Texas, and from Ontario, Canada, to Florida. This species is seldom, if ever, a pest in the continental United States, though it sometimes is found in turf.
Description
The northern mole cricket differs from mole crickets in the genus Neoscapteriscus in the number of dactyls on each tibia. The northern mole cricket has four dactyls, while the Neoscapteriscus mole crickets have only two dactyls.
Mole crickets in the genus Gryllotalpa also have four dactyls on the tibia. The northern mole cricket can be distinguished from these species as its femur has a short, semicircular process. Gryllotalpa species have a knife-shaped process on the femur. The pronotum is darkly mottled, while the abdomen is typically darker than in the tawny, southern, and shortwinged mole crickets.
The proportion of adults with wings of normal length, enabling the insects to fly, varies geographically. Shortwinged adults are the rule in Florida, and adults with wings of normal length are very rare if they occur at all. Where the same species occurs in the Caribbean and in Central and South America, adults with wings of normal length seem to be usual, and they fly on warm evenings and are attracted to ultraviolet light.
Life Cycle
In South Carolina, oviposition occurs in May and June. Egg chambers are made as side chambers to a semipermanent tunnel made by the female, with no evidence that a female makes more than one egg chamber or lays more than one clutch of eggs. Nymphs hatch from mid-June through mid-July and develop slowly, passing the winter as nymphs. They mature the following summer, mate in the autumn, and oviposit the next spring. The life cycle thus lasts two years. In central Florida, oviposition occurs in May, but nymphs seem to become adults by October–November of the same year, so the life cycle takes only one year.
Life cycles of this and other species are contrasted in this knowledgebase with that of the tawny mole cricket, because it is the best-studied species.
Damage
Northern mole crickets are native to the United States and are not considered an important pest of turfgrass as there are sufficient natural enemies limiting its numbers.
Larra analis F. (a species of wasp in the family Crabronidae) is native to the southern United States. Its adults feed on plant nectars, but its larvae are parasitoids of northern mole crickets. Adult females ready to lay eggs attack northern mole crickets and place one egg on each host.
Steinernema neocurtillis Nguyen & Smart, a species of nematode in the family Steinernematidae, is native to Florida, where it has been found to attack the northern mole cricket.
