Southern mole cricket

Scapteriscus borellii Giglio-Tos

(Insecta: Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae)

Adults are brown and have characteristic enlarged forelegs used for burrowing into the soil. The broad hind wings extend beyond the abdomen tip. Eggs are grayish brown, bean shaped, about 3 to 4 mm long, and deposited in loose clusters in a subterranean chamber. Nymphs appear like wingless, smaller versions of adults.

Generally, one generation occurs per year. Eggs are laid in April to May, and nymphs are present through August. Both nymphs and adults overwinter.

Multiple introductions of this species into the United States occurred at major seaports in the early 1900s. Southern mole cricket now occurs in the southeastern states from North Carolina to Florida and as far west as Texas and Arizona.

The omnivorous southern mole cricket mostly feeds on other insects, but also infests a number of fruit, vegetable and field crops.

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Adult of southern mole cricket, Scapteriscus borellii Giglio-Tos

(Photographer: Paul Choate, University of Florida)