MOLE CRICKET CONTROL PHOTOS

 

tunnelsmole cricket damage to lawn

Mole cricket damage is primarily mechanical: tunnelling through the soil near
the surface, severing the roots and uprooting the grass.

 

larra bicolormap

An adult Larra bicolor wasp feeding on a mole
cricket by imbibing hemolymph.
(photo by A. Sourakov, UF)

The Florida counties with confirmed
populations of this wasp.

 

southern larraflowerpartridge pea

Southern larraflower (left), Spermacoce verticillata (photo by A. Sourakov, UF) ,
and partridge pea (right), Chamaechrista fasciculata, are good sources of nectar for adult Larra bicolor wasps.

 

adult larra bicolor waspwasp eggs in mole cricket

An adult Larra bicolor wasp stinging a mole cricket that it chased
out of its tunnel. The sting will paralyze the mole cricket.
(photo by A. Sourakov, UF)

A wasp's egg deposited on the ventral side of the thorax of a mole
cricket. The elongated, pearly white egg is central in the picture.
(photo by A. Sourakov, UF)

 

developing Larra bicolor waspfully grown larva

A developing larva of a Larra bicolor wasp feeding on a mole
cricket. The larva is a little to the right of the center of the picture.
(photo by A. Sourakov, UF)

A fully grown larva of the Larra bicolor wasp near
pieces of the mole cricket on which it developed.
(photo by A. Sourakov, UF)

 

cocoon of the Larra wasp

The cocoon of the Larra wasp.
(photo by Lyle Buss, UF)

 

larra bicolornematode applicator

A 2 × 2 ft square quadrat made out of half-inch pvc pipe.

An IFAS technician using one of the nematode application machines.

 

fly

Ormia depleta, adult female

Red-eyed fly larva

 

map mole cricket

Populations of the fly currently in Florida.

Mole cricket nematodes, Steinernema scapterisci
Nguyen & Smart, emerging from a mole cricket.