Medvedka: description and types, lifestyle, harm and breeding methods

Medvedka, the name of this insect is well known to all gardeners, summer residents, gardeners, and those who grow plants, and it is familiar in a negative aspect. After all, the mole cricket (aka cabbage mole cricket, aka mole cricket) is a pest for many plants. What are the habits of this insect, what does it look like and how to fight it, read about all this further in our article.

Where did the name “Medvedka” come from?

Mole crickets got their name because of their appearance, large size, brown-brown color and clawed front paws. All this gave reason to compare this insect with the brown

bear

The mole cricket’s second name, “cabbage mole cricket,” comes from its love for young cabbage seedlings. But the third name “mole cricket” comes from the Latin “Gryllotalpa” (properly translated as “mole cricket”) and it is also not accidental. Medvedka is similar to

It is similar to a cricket in its body structure and ability to make sounds, and it is similar to a mole in its ability to burrow into the ground and its extended hands of the front paws, which help dig the ground.

What does a bear look like?

The insect belongs to the class of large invertebrate arthropods from the order of jumping neoptera. A sexually mature individual grows up to 7.5 cm and lives in burrows, which it digs itself. The front pair of limbs, which outwardly resemble ticks, helps her in this. In addition to spikes designed to loosen the earth, the legs have auditory openings. The other two limbs, the hind ones, help in movement; on the inside of them there are several sharp growths.

The insect has an abdomen, which is several times larger in size than the cephalothorax and reaches a thickness of about 1.4 cm. The upper part is covered with a hard shell, in which the head can partially hide. The mouth contains two powerful jaws designed to chew roots.

The mole cricket has several pairs of wings, the front ones being small and reaching only to the middle of the abdomen, but the other two are long and transparent with thin veins. With their help she flies.

Description, structure, characteristics

Mole crickets are arthropod insects and are quite large (for insects) in size. The body length of the mole cricket is from 3.5 to 5 cm. Its body is brownish-brown on top and brownish-yellow below. The body of the mole cricket is covered with thin hairs.

Visual structure of a mole cricket.

The insect's head has a direct or prognathic location in relation to the body. The axis of the body coincides with the axis of the head. The mouthparts are powerful and forward-directed jaws, and next to them are two pairs of tentacles.

The mole cricket's eyes are quite large and clearly visible; they have a facet structure and are located on the sides of the head. On the head itself there are small thread-like antennae.

The pronotum of the mole cricket with the side parts (blades) that hang down is large and flat, it is a distinctive feature of this insect. The head and front part of the body of this creature are covered with a dense chitinous shell, with its help the mole cricket can push and compact the earth when digging holes. Thanks to him, she is somewhat reminiscent of a crayfish.

The abdomen of the mole cricket is thick, it has 1 cm in diameter, and on its top there are anal and genital plates.

The mole cricket has two pairs of wings:

An interesting fact: it is by the venation of the mole cricket's wing elytra that one can distinguish males from females. The larvae of this insect do not have wings.

The mole cricket also has three pairs of limbs, and each of them consists of a coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia and a 3-segmented tarsus. The hind legs are strong, as they are designed for movement and have 1-4 spines on their inner side. The forelimbs, somewhat reminiscent of claws, are essentially a digging apparatus.

Interesting fact: the mole cricket's hearing aid is located on the shins of the forelimbs, just like in grasshoppers, crickets and some other chirping insects.

Description and features of the bear

The mole cricket is an insect related to the cricket. Like him, the heroine of the article is classified as an Orthoptera. This is one of the genera of insects. Medvedka stands out among others:

1. Body length from 4 to 10 centimeters. This is taking into account 2 thread-like outgrowths at the end of the abdomen. The appendages are called cerci. The length of 2 antennae on the insect’s head was also taken into account.
2. Dark brown on top and greenish on the belly.
3. Big eyes. They are located on the cephalothorax of the mole cricket.
4. Mouthparts of the gnawing type. The jaws are pushed forward.
5. The front legs are transformed into something like shovels or claws. Their flattened structure allows the mole cricket to dig the ground, like moles. It is with its front legs that the pest cuts off young shoots and makes cavities in root crops.
6. Wide but shortened elytra. Soft wings protrude from under them. They are located along the back of the insect.
7. Large pronotum. It accounts for approximately a third of the length of the mole cricket.
8. A hard shell on the cephalothorax. The chitinous layer, like a helmet, covers the insect's head.

Mole crickets differ from other crickets by their shortened antennae, enlarged anterior back and modified forelimbs. In the photo, the mole cricket appears not only in the form of an adult insect, but also as a larva.

Mole cricket larvae are microscopic copies of adults

Juveniles are similar to mature ones, but lack wings and are smaller in size. The mole cricket larva emerges from the egg. It is up to 3.5 millimeters long. The color of the egg is yellowish. A brown coating and greenish reflections are visible.

What sounds does a bear make?

The mole cricket, like the cricket, is a “musical” insect, capable of producing chirping trills that can sometimes be heard at a distance of up to half a kilometer. Sounds are made by

friction of rigid front elytra against each other.

The trills of mole crickets serve communication between them, as well as a very important matter - sexual reproduction of insects, since through the performance of “love serenades” males attract females. Females, by the way, are also capable of chirping. The sound power of the mole cricket is 1.4 mW, while for the cricket this figure is only 0.06 mW.

Why is the mole cricket called that?

The insect got its name due to its brown color and dark brown small hairs covering the body, large size and sharp black claws, which are located on the front legs. It looks quite scary. Other nicknames include the following:

• Kapustyanka - this name was given to her because she loves to eat the leaves of young cabbage heads, potato tubers and beets.
• Mole cricket - for its resemblance to an insect from the same family of jumping Orthoptera, which can make sounds by rubbing its elytra, and to an animal that digs its own holes and has strong front legs.
• Earthen crayfish - for its hard chitinous shell and claw-like paws.

And also, sometimes, you can hear the nickname “top” - this is because young individuals have a gray color and pointed spines on their limbs.

Nutrition

All summer residents know that the mole cricket is the most common pest of vegetable, fruit, berry and garden crops. They damage roots, tubers, seeds, underground parts of plants, and sometimes eat young plants. Mole crickets spoil potatoes, corn, beets, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, turnips, pumpkins, watermelons, melons, grapes and many other crops. In the south, exotic citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines, lemons), peanuts, cotton, and tea also suffer from them. In forests, mole crickets damage the roots of many trees: oaks, beech trees, pine trees, etc.

But do not think that mole crickets are exclusively vegetarians (however, very harmful vegetarians), being omnivores, they also eat some living creatures: earthworms,

ladybugs, dragonflies, beetles and some other smaller insects.

Mole cricket nutrition

Worms, small insects, larvae, manure, humus, roots, stems, plant seeds. This is what mole crickets eat. The diet of adults and young animals is the same. However, due to their size, young insects are more often content with plant food, and mature ones with animal food.

Among beetle larvae, mole crickets prefer offspring of the Colorado, May beetles and ladybugs. While searching for prey, the pest tears up the soil so much that cultivated crops die from damage to the root system. In other words, mole crickets do not so much eat as they destroy the crop.

The mole cricket is considered one of the most harmful pests of agricultural crops.

Considering the benefits of mole crickets in folk medicine, some people deliberately breed the insect in their plots or at home. Sometimes, an insect is kept, as they say, for the soul, like some types of spiders and cockroaches.

The question arises of what to feed your pet at home. The animal refuses vegetables, apples, cucumbers, potatoes and strawberries. They are, according to many amateur gardeners, a delicacy for mole crickets. However, in reality, pets choose:

• minced meat
• Gammarus crustacean sold as fish food
• small grain porridge
• small insects, which at home are usually served crushed to the mole cricket table

When choosing food for mole crickets, it is important to avoid strong-smelling foods. Insects do not like strong odors. This, by the way, suggests a way to deal with an animal if it is a pest, and not a medicinal raw material or a pet.

Habitats

These insects live over a wide geographic range, almost everywhere in Eurasia (with the exception of the northern Scandinavian countries), North Africa, the Americas, and Australia. They are not found only in

Antarctica northern arctic regions.

As a habitat, mole crickets most like wet places: meadows, floodplains. They usually live in underground passages and are often found near irrigation canals and in wetlands.

Where does the bear live?

Cabbage grass lives almost throughout the entire European territory, with the exception of the Netherlands, Finland, and Norway. Residents of the Caucasus, Southeast and Central Asia, India, China, the Japanese and Philippine Islands, Australia, South and North America, and the Northern regions of Africa have to fight the pest. In Russia, the insect is found almost everywhere, with the exception of the northern regions.

The beetle lives in damp places, meadows, near ponds, and lives in tunnels underground. The insect likes fertilized, warm, humus soil, so it is often found in summer cottages, wetlands and near irrigation canals.

Lifestyle

These insects prefer to lead a secretive and nocturnal lifestyle, hiding in their burrows during the day and going out to hunt at night. Their presence in a garden plot can be determined by winding, loosened ridges of earth, small holes in the ground, and, of course, by healthy plants that suddenly begin to die for no reason at all.

This is what mole cricket tunnels look like.

It is at night that mole crickets spoil/eat plants; they are also able to fly over considerable distances in search of food (usually they are attracted to bright light). They are also capable of not only flying, but also swimming.

Signs of a mole cricket appearing in the garden

When an insect appears on a garden plot, after some time you can notice traces of its activity:

• Horizontal passages located near the surface are visible next to the plants; they become especially noticeable after watering or rain.
• Young shoots dry out and are easily pulled out of the ground, and sometimes they are severely gnawed or bitten.
• The tubers are damaged and have deep bite marks.
• There are round holes in the soil, entrances to burrows, which are surrounded by a small earthen mound.

Very often, pests themselves can be seen next to damaged plants.

Natural enemies

Of course, the mole cricket has its own enemies in natural conditions, among them rooks, starlings, crows,

hedgehogs, lizards, moles, ants (they pose a threat to mole cricket larvae). Also among pets, the enemy of this insect harmful to the garden is the cat, which can hunt and eat mole crickets like mice and rats, which is of great benefit to the household.

How to get rid of a mole cricket

If prevention does not produce results and mole crickets settle on the site, traditional methods of control are used. If the remedies don’t help, move on to chemistry.

16 folk remedies for mole crickets

The advantage of the methods is that they contain substances that are safe for both humans and plants.

Description of funds:

1. Soap solution. Combine the liquid with soap shavings, add vegetable oil in a ratio of 1:10. A liter of liquid is poured into the mink. Soon a mole cricket will appear on the surface. All that remains is to catch and crush the pest.
2. Eggshell. The dried eggshells are crushed. Add vegetable oil with flavor. Treats are placed in the planting holes or grooves. Then seedlings or seeds are planted. Mole crickets will not resist such a snack, but sharp pieces of shell will be destructive for them. The remaining shells will turn into fertilizer.
3. Oil solution. Water is poured into the mink, 1-2 tbsp is introduced. l. oil, then water again. Making its way to the exit, the pest swallows a viscous composition that atrophies the respiratory tract. The body of an already dead insect will appear on the surface.
4. Bread and matches. A piece of crustless bread is moistened with water and kneaded until sticky. Rolling balls. Match heads are inserted inside the balls, where the soaked sulfur contaminates the bread bait. All that remains is to scatter the balls around the area and next to the mink, then wait for the result.
5. Ammonia. Dilute 3 tbsp in 10 liters of water. l. ammonia. Water the soil, being careful not to get it on the plants. The smell of ammonia will force mole crickets to look for a new shelter. When preparing the poison, the proportions are observed so as not to oversaturate the soil with nitrogen.
6. Iodine. The beds with root crops are watered with iodine solution. 15 drops of the drug are diluted in a 10-liter bucket of water. The smell causes insects to scatter and never return. This product is used to treat greenhouses and open areas.
7. Kerosene in water. 150 g of kerosene are diluted in 10 liters of water. Pour the composition into holes and passages. As a result, the mole cricket's instant death follows.
8. Kerosene with sand. A bucket of sand is mixed with a tablespoon of kerosene. Scattered in the garden along the paths. Sprinkle the beds and the ground around the holes.
9. Onion peel. Pour 800 g of husk into a 10-liter bucket of hot water (not boiling water). The composition is sprayed over the area, not leaving unattended areas where pests accumulate. Or leave a bucket of solution on the site. In both cases, the onion aroma will force the bear to leave the territory.
10. Garlic. Chopped or crushed garlic is placed in the seed holes. The pungent smell will repel pests.
11. Chicken droppings. To prepare the product, add 2 kg of chicken manure to a bucket of water and leave for 24 hours. Add water to the resulting mixture at a ratio of 1:5 and water the beds.
12. Manure. In the fall, they dig a hole near the garden, with a length, width and height of 50 cm, then fill it with manure. Mole crickets will certainly settle in manure for the winter. When frosts occur below -3°C, a hole is dug out and manure is scattered around the area. Pests freeze and die.
13. Jars with liquid. At the beginning of the spring season, holes are made near the beds into which jars of water, kvass or beer are placed. The neck of the jar is left at ground level. At night, mole crickets accumulate there.
14. A piece of iron. The method is used in the spring, before digging up the site. Although the method works in summer too. On a sunny day, small pieces of iron are scattered around the area. Under them, mole crickets accumulate, having come out to bask. At this point you can get rid of pests.
15. Barrier planting method. Gardeners have figured out how to protect flower bulbs from mole crickets. Plants are planted in cut bottles, which are buried 15 cm into the ground. 2–3 cm are left above the soil surface. The path to the bulbs is closed to pests.
16. Protective rings. Trenches 20–50 cm deep are dug around greenhouses or beds. Crushed shells, ash, sawdust, broken glass, and fragments of bricks are poured into them. Spray kerosene on top. This prevents access for pests.

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Publicly available means in the fight against mole crickets will give results if neighbors in the garden get involved. Otherwise, it will not be possible to remove the mole cricket.

8 chemical treatments for mole crickets

There are quite a lot of chemicals, and some help in the fight against mole crickets and other pests.

Effective chemistry against mole crickets:

1. Medvetox. Available in granular form. The drug is non-toxic and does not harm soil microflora. The granules are buried 3-5 cm in the grooves between the beds. After 4 hours the drug begins to act. Protects against pests for 14 days.
2. Anti-Medvedka. The drug is insecticidal. Release form: microgranules. Protects vegetables and flowers from mole crickets and other insects. When planting and sowing crops, granules are scattered between the beds.
3. Medvecide. Powerful bait for killing various types of insects. Harmless to people and animals. Available in granule form. The beards, 2.5-3 cm deep, are dug at a distance of 0.8-1.0 m from each other. Each one contains 5 to 10 granules. The bait is valid for 20 days.
4. Rembek. Granular insecticide with a pungent odor. Does not pose a threat to the environment. The bait is distributed among minks and dug passages. One 360 ​​g packet of product is enough to treat 15 acres of land.
5. Phenaxin plus. Available in the form of granules with a smell that attracts mole crickets. But the main danger is the neuroparalytic effect that the drug has. The bait is scattered on the beds, around trees, in manure and other fertilizers. One pack of granules is enough for 10 square meters. m area. The product is valid for 20 days.
6. Calcium carbide. The product is used to fill minks, holes, and passages. After rain or watering, a chemical reaction begins, releasing toxic gas. None of the pests will be saved.
7. Bio-discharge. A broad-spectrum drug. The insecticide is available in powder form and is used diluted. The product package is diluted in 10 liters of water. Use 0.5-1.0 liters of solution per well. The product attracts mole crickets as it releases an odorous substance. And then it neutralizes it. It is possible to add dry product into the hole.
8. Grizzly. Attracts insects by smell. Destroys at any stage of development. Fill the holes along the bed with granules and sprinkle with soil. Plants will be protected for up to three weeks.

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Chemicals are used with caution. Among them there are toxic ones or those that are prohibited from being used in conjunction with other products.

3 biological remedies for mole crickets

Experienced gardeners see biological products as an alternative to chemicals.

Since beneficial insects live in the garden, you need to choose biological products with care so as not to cause harm. And at the same time, protect the area from the presence of the mole cricket.

Popular biological products:

1. "Boverin". The product contains fungal spores. Penetrating into the body of the mole cricket, the spores germinate and ultimately cause death. The product is more effective in controlling greenhouse pests.
2. "Nemabact." Contains bacteria and predatory nematodes. The drug infects the insect with bacteria, due to which the insides decompose and the pest dies. The drug is effective, but capricious. If storage conditions are not met, it loses its properties. Stored in the refrigerator. Effective in garden beds at temperatures up to 25°C.
3. "Anthony F." The drug has the same range of action as Nemabact. Differs in the type of nematode.

If the production technology of biological products is violated and the shelf life has expired, quality is lost.

Agrotechnical measures

Carrying out agricultural work is unlikely to help completely eradicate the mole cricket. But when carried out in combination with other methods, extermination of the pest is possible.

Tips and tricks

After collecting the last harvest, put the area in order. Clear away debris, leaves, and branches. Cleaning will allow you to notice pests and their holes.

Dig up the area with a spade twice, in the fall and in the spring. It will be possible to destroy burrows and nests. And catch the scattering mole crickets with traps.

Treat seed and roots of seedlings before planting. Inspect the soil from time to time, remove weeds, and carry out preventive measures.

Traps

Having studied the taste and aromatic preferences of the cabbage moth, gardeners have developed traps for the mole cricket. Some of them are interesting.

Dung

The mole cricket is attracted by the smell of manure. Gardeners lay out piles around the site. Very often pests settle in them and lay eggs here.

Glass

A liter jar is filled with honey, mashed potatoes or sunflower oil. Buried vertically in the ground in places where there are a lot of pests. I cover the jar with straw, leaves, and dry branches. A mole cricket that has fallen into a trap is unlikely to be able to get out.

Honey

It is good to set such traps in late summer - early autumn. During this period, pests are preoccupied with preparing for winter.

The jar coated with honey is covered with a sheet of plywood or tin and insulated on all sides with straw. Cabbage damsels happily climb into the fragrant, warm, but deadly trap.

Beer houses

Since cabbage plants like malt, gardeners bury an open bottle of beer in the ground. Place the container at an angle to make it easier for the bear to get inside.

Ultrasonic devices

Previously, these devices used to scare away rodents, but, as it turned out later, some successfully deal with mole crickets. These are “Antikrot”, “Tornado” and “Ecosniper”.

To achieve the effect, one device per area is not enough. It was calculated that at least one device will be required per 1 are (one hundred square meters). Externally, the device resembles a capsule that is stuck into the ground.

There are about 15 varieties of ultrasonic devices. They differ in name, price, range, duration of operation. Each device comes with an instruction manual.

Natural enemies

When fighting a mole cricket, one should not forget that humans have natural helpers in this difficult task.

Natural enemies of mole crickets:

• birds (rooks, crows, starlings, herons, etc.):
• ants and ground beetles;
• insectivores (hedgehogs, lizards, moles);
• cats;
• fungi;
• Larra anathema wasp.

These representatives of the living world cope well with pests, eating them at every opportunity. Gardeners should attract birds and hedgehogs, ground beetles and cats to their plots. But unfortunately, some natural helpers are rarely found in nature (Larra wasp), others cause no less trouble than mole crickets (ants, moles, etc.).

Types, photos and names

Different types of mole crickets practically do not differ from each other, neither in appearance, nor in habits and way of life. They can be distinguished biologically only by the number

chromosomes. Next, we will describe in detail some common types of mole crickets.

Mole cricket

In fact, this is the most common species among these insects. Widely distributed in Europe (with the exception of Scandinavia), lives in a number of Asian countries and northern Africa. Almost everything that we describe here about mole crickets, first of all, concerns the common mole cricket.

African mole cricket

It is slightly smaller in size than the common mole cricket, the body length is 2.5-3.5 cm. It has a brown-yellow body color. Lives in the African tropics and subtropics, but in addition to the “Black

continent" is also found in Southeast Asia and even on the Japanese islands.

Ten-toed mole cricket

This species is distinguished by its small size - from 1.9 to 3 cm. It inhabits both Americas, and it is believed that initially they were found only in North America, but gradually penetrated into South America.

Steppe mole cricket

In appearance it is an exact double of the common mole cricket. This species prefers steppe terrain as a habitat; it lives in the steppe belt of our country, Ukraine, southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and a number of other Middle Eastern countries.

Types of mole crickets

The term “mole cricket” unites about 100 species of large burrowing insects. All of them belong to Orthoptera and form one family. That's what they call it - mole crickets.

The family is divided into subfamilies:

1. Gryllotalpa. The subfamily includes the common mole cricket, distributed throughout Russia.
2. Scapteriscinae. Mole crickets of this subfamily inhabit almost all of South America and part of North America.
3. Marchandinae. This subfamily includes the ten-toed mole cricket, common in the USA and Canada.

Insects of each subfamily are divided into genera. In Grulotaipa and Scapteriscinae there are 6 each. In Marchandinae there are 5. About half of the species are fossils. Other mole crickets are among those currently existing.

Reproduction

The mating season for mole crickets begins in the spring, after their mass exodus from the burrows in which they spent the winter. Moreover, the mating process itself takes place underground, in burrows. In summer, offspring appear.

Both female and male mole crickets carefully prepare for the birth of future children; they dig complex and branched underground labyrinths and, at a shallow depth (about 5 cm from the surface), create spherical nests 10 cm in diameter. The female mole cricket lays from 300 to 600 eggs in these nesting sites. All this time, the female does not leave her eggs, maintaining the desired temperature and providing ventilation; for this purpose, she continually clears the passages, eats up the roots of plants that cast a shadow on the eggs, etc. All this is critical for the survival of the offspring. The mole cricket eggs themselves are somewhat reminiscent of millet grains; they are oval in shape, yellowish-gray in color and no more than 2 mm in size.

After 10-20 days, the mole cricket eggs begin to hatch into larvae, also known as nymphs, which are small gray six-legged wingless creatures. Otherwise they look similar to adults. For the first 20-30 days, the larvae are under the close protection of the mother, and at the end of this period, the female mole cricket, which gave birth to abundant offspring, unfortunately dies. At this time, the larvae are already crawling into burrows, starting to dig their own holes and look for food. Their development and transformation into a full-fledged adult takes from 1 to 2.5 years.

Lifestyle of a bear

Insects are one of the most ancient species that appeared on our planet, their remains are found everywhere and they date back millions of years. This species is very tenacious and can quickly adapt to the changing conditions of the environment where they live.

As a rule, the pest is nocturnal and does not appear on the surface during the day; it spends most of the day underground. All day long the mole cricket digs in the soil, making passages and eating everything that gets in its way. Insects make sounds even while underground, thus they give a signal to their own kind.

Their passages are located at a depth of 15-20 cm and consist of numerous holes in which they do not spend more than a few days. The network of branches dug by cabbageweed can reach great distances; they move all the time, destroying crops with their powerful jaws.

Scientists have found that their chirping is many times louder than that of grasshoppers or crickets. The human ear is able to detect these sounds from a distance of more than 500 m, but only in the evening. During the day they are practically inaudible, probably due to the fact that they are afraid of being discovered.

At night, they crawl to the surface of the earth in order to find a new area where there is food. If necessary, insects can travel long distances - they fly and swim well.

How to deal with a mole cricket

The fight between this insect pest and the gardener has been going on since ancient times; the arsenal of the fight against mole crickets includes both time-tested folk remedies and modern means of disinfestation. We will look at this in more detail later.

Chemicals

You can make bait for it from steamed grains of corn, oats, barley, wheat or rye, not forgetting to add poison there. Previously, such strong agents as zinc phosphide and dust (DDT) were added to such baits. Now, for this purpose, much safer special poisons are used exclusively for mole crickets, for example, Medvetoks, they do not harm the soil or earthworms, but only kill pests.

Ready-made bait can be purchased at a specialized store. It is optimal to apply it to the soil in early spring, a week before sowing crops.

Agrotechnical measures

Agrotechnical measures, such as deep spring and autumn plowing, regular loosening of the soil, also help get rid of mole crickets in the garden or garden plot.

Destruction by mechanical means

You can try to fight with the mole cricket and various mechanical means.

• Set up traps for them in manure pits. The fact is that they like to spend the winter in manure. And when they gather in the manure pit in winter, it should be scattered around the garden. The mole crickets located there will die from the cold. True, this is only relevant for places with cold climates.
• In a place where mole crickets accumulate, dig a jar or bottle into the ground. Then pour beer in there as bait. Once they get there, the mole crickets will no longer be able to get out.
• Set up light traps for mole crickets - place garden lanterns, and under them containers filled with water and kerosene. Since mole crickets fly towards the light at night, when they hit the lamp, they will fall into the liquid prepared for them.
• You can pour water and sunflower oil into the holes made by pests. Water will push them to the surface, and oil will not allow them to breathe.

Fighting with folk remedies

• – You can try to scare away the mole crickets with unpleasant odors. These come from: rotten fish, onion skins, wormwood, garlic cloves and mint.
• You can also water the soil with diluted bird droppings. Chicken will also work.
• Plant plants that the mole cricket cannot tolerate: garlic, chrysanthemums, perennial cloves.

Precautions in the garden

When using strong chemicals against mole crickets, you must remember to be careful. Instead, other plants, soil or pets should not be harmed.

Where do mole crickets spend the winter?

Burrows dug in the ground or in manure help insects survive frosts. Adults dig deeper holes in the cold season than in summer. Approximately up to 1 meter, and they do them not strictly vertically, but at a certain angle.

The larvae also descend into the soil for the winter, but they go deeper to a much shorter distance, somewhere around 20-30 cm.

With the onset of spring, the mole cricket comes to the surface, but not before the soil temperature rises to 15 degrees.

Interesting Facts

• Gourmets in South-East Asia sometimes consume these insects as a delicacy. Moreover, they are prepared fried, stewed, pickled, with the addition of seasonings or even without them.
• Sometimes the mole cricket brings some benefit, as it destroys the larvae of cockchafers and some other insects that eat plants
• Surprisingly enough, there are benefits from Medvedka in the field of pharmaceuticals as well. So a powder is made from it, which is used as one of the components for a cure for tuberculosis.

What crops are affected by the pest?

The mole cricket is an omnivorous insect. Damages above-ground and underground parts of crops. The exception is the roots of trees and shrubs. Destroys tubers and sown seeds, seedlings of berry and ornamental plants, vegetables, fruits and berries.

The following crops are often affected:

• young potatoes;
• White cabbage;
• radish;
• fodder and sugar beets;
• beans;
• carrot;
• tomatoes;
• radish;
• pumpkin;
• Bulgarian pepper;
• eggplant;
• parsley;
• melon crops.

Among the berries, strawberries, wild strawberries, and grapes are preferred. Fallen ripe fruits of pear, apple and plum trees also attract the attention of the mole cricket. The pest affects wheat, rye, barley and other grain crops. In forest areas, young spruce, pine, and oak trees are attacked.

Video

And finally, a short practical video on how to deal with mole crickets.

Author: Pavel Chaika, editor-in-chief of Poznavaika magazine

When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and high-quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments on the article. You can also write your wish/question/suggestion to my email [email protected] or Facebook, with respect, the author.

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Preventive measures

Even if mole crickets are not visible on the site, there is no guarantee that they will not appear in the near future. Pests come from a neighboring garden, appear on the site along with manure, fly through the air, and in other ways. Simple preventive measures will help preserve the harvest.

Preventive measures:

1. When selecting fertilizers, fresh manure is excluded. The best choice is biennial manure. Then the appearance of pests will become impossible.
2. Everyone knows the role of green manure in plant cultivation. These are not only green fertilizers. Green manure protects cultivated plants from insects. Therefore, it is useful to plant them to preserve the harvest. It is better to plant rye or marigolds against mole crickets.
3. If the autumn garden is not put in order, plant remains are not burned or buried, mole crickets and larvae choose old fruits and leaves for wintering. And in the spring they fill the area. Therefore, autumn work in the garden is protection from mole crickets.
4. Agrotechnical activities, such as weeding and digging, play an important role in the battle with mole crickets for the harvest. By pulling out weeds, a person deprives the mole cricket of food. In addition, mole crickets do not return to the ground where tunnels and burrows have been destroyed by digging.
5. Crop rotation prevents diseases and the spread of pests. Planting plants constantly in one place provokes the accumulation of old diseases, and at the same time mole cricket larvae.
6. Mole crickets settle only in acidic soils. Therefore, annual soil deoxidation reduces the likelihood of site contamination. For deoxidation, use lime or dolomite flour.
7. Since the mole cricket loves warm soil, gardeners reduce the soil temperature. To do this, mulch the soil with light material. Straw, sawdust, pine needles will do. In addition to lowering the temperature, the smell of mulch also repels the pest.

For prevention purposes, garden crops are planted near the beds or along the perimeter, which repel the pest with a specific smell. And experienced gardeners do not recommend fresh manure, where larvae and adult insects settle. It is recommended to use humus or compost.

Application of chemistry

Sealing mole cricket burrows with cotton wool

The chemical industry produces a fairly large number of drugs used to kill mole crickets.

Almost all of them are broad-spectrum insecticides that can also destroy the following species:

• larvae of May beetles and bronze beetles
• wireworm larvae and adults
• black garden ants (breeding aphids and mealybugs)

A description of the drugs and the features of their use is given in the table:

Any of the listed drugs (except Boverin) can be used in a mixture with edible bait - oatmeal, buckwheat or pearl barley porridge. Sunflower oil is also added to the bait. In the evening, the resulting mixture is laid out near the bear's burrows in the amount of 10-15 g per hole.

In addition, to combat mole crickets, acetylene is used, which is poisonous for the insect. To do this, 5 g of calcium carbide is placed in each hole and all holes are sealed with cotton wool or soft cloth, covered with earth on top.

When the substance reacts with water (in the form of rain or irrigation water), it decomposes into acetylene, which fills the mole cricket's burrows and passages. The gas quickly kills the insect.

Kerosene can also be used against mole crickets. However, this comes with some problems: due to the relatively high toxicity of the drug, it is not recommended for use in large quantities. You can fill no more than 1-2 holes on the site with kerosene; Up to 50 ml of substance is consumed for each hole.

Ten-toed mole cricket

A close relative of the common mole cricket is the ten-toed mole cricket. The body length of an adult does not exceed 35 mm, and the thickness is 8-11 mm. It feeds on plant roots, young shoots and leads an underground lifestyle.

The main natural enemy of the insect is the burrowing wasp, which attacks the mole cricket in its burrow, stings (with paralyzing poison) and uses it as an incubator for its eggs.

Ten-toed mole cricket

Photo

Photo of the bear:

The forelimbs differ from the other four in their modification - shorter, more massive and powerful, they are adapted for both digging the soil and swimming.

The front wings are short, rounded-triangular in shape. The hind wings of the insect are very developed, which helps the insect cover vast distances in a short time.

The folded wings are two long thin scales that exceed the length of the abdomen and look like two tails. The body length of an adult mole cricket reaches 60 mm, and the thickness is 15-20 mm.

Interesting : “Medvedka” is not the only name of the insect. Due to the gray color of the young and “pirate” manners, it is called the “top”, and because of the presence of powerful claws, it is called the “ground crayfish”.

Mole crickets are not the only insects that live in summer cottages and vegetable gardens. We have prepared for you a series of articles about the most common pests. Read all about the Colorado potato beetle, the May beetle, the mole cricket, ants, spider mites, moths, locusts, slugs, cutworms, aphids and thrips.

What does it eat?

The mole cricket is a polyphagous insect that eats wild plants, field and vegetable crops, and seedlings of forest and garden trees.

In addition to plant foods, the mole cricket consumes larvae of insects living in the soil and worms. There are frequent cases of mole crickets eating their own kind.

Most of all, the bear loves cabbage, potatoes, corn, beets, hemp and carrots. But due to the great “love” for cabbage, the people called the mole cricket - cabbage. It is worth noting here that the mole cricket eats both plant roots, young shoots, and the fruits themselves.

What plants does he not like?

Although the mole cricket is considered a voracious and polyphagous insect, there are plants that it cannot stand.

The pest does not tolerate marigolds and garlic. If these crops are planted on the planting lands, the mole cricket will bypass them.

Mole cricket: a beetle or another kind of insect?

The mole cricket is an insect that belongs to the family of large burrowing insects of the order Orthoptera. Beetles belong to the Coleoptera family. They all belong to the class of insects.

Development cycle

The stages of development of the mole cricket are as follows:

1. Eggs.
2. Larvae.
3. Nymphs.
4. Adults.

Second instar mole cricket larvae or nymphs are born in 14-20 days. These are miniature insects of a gray-white color, which in external structure practically do not differ from the adult individual. The only difference is the lack of wings.

Dug out nest with eggs

Mole cricket larvae

Mole cricket nymphs

After birth, mole crickets are blind for the entire period until the first molt , so they spend some time in the nest, where the mother creates all the conditions for their existence. After the first shedding of the chitinous layer, young mole crickets leave the nest, beginning to live independently.

The development cycle from nymph to adult occurs in stages and ranges from 18 to 24 months.

Read more about mole cricket larvae and what a gardener should know to prevent the insect from multiplying here.

Description of the mole cricket

In total, there are about 110 species of mole crickets in the world. Depending on the species, the size can be from 5 to 8 cm, excluding the cerci and whiskers. But for Russians, only 2 types are important: ordinary and Far Eastern. The common mole cricket is distributed throughout the European territory of Russia and in the Trans-Urals. The Far Eastern one lives in the Asian part of the Russian Federation. The ranges of these insects overlap in the following areas:

• Africa;
• Kazakhstan;
• Kyrgyzstan.

Outwardly, these two species of mole crickets are very similar, and they have a similar lifestyle. In general, only an entomologist can distinguish them. But it makes no difference to gardeners which mole crickets eat their crops on the plot.

The bear looks... creepy even in the photo. And if this creature crawls towards you... This is one of the largest insects in Russia. The size of an ordinary mole cricket without whiskers and cerci is 5 cm. If you add another 2 cm, you get 9.

The color on top is dark brown, almost black. The bottom is lighter. Maybe even olive. If you suddenly come across a light mole cricket, it is a young individual: a nymph.

Outwardly, she gives the impression of a tank, a bulldozer, a lobster... in any case, a creature that you don’t want to mess with. Its head, small relative to its body, is protected in front by two powerful paws, reminiscent of lobster claws or bulldozer knives.

The faceted eyes and long mustache are clearly visible on the head. Although, compared to the background of the body, the latter do not shock the imagination. The mouthparts of the mole cricket are of the gnawing type. Next to it is a pair of tentacles with which the insect holds its prey during a meal.

The shield on the cephalothorax is hard and looks massive. In case of danger, the mole cricket partially hides its head under it. The front of the head is protected by powerful forepaws.

The abdomen is 3 times larger than the cephalothorax and is soft. This is the mole cricket’s weak spot if it had to come to the surface. The diameter of the adult's abdomen is about 1 cm. The abdomen is shaped like a cylinder. Churches stick out menacingly from behind. When attacked, the mole cricket raises its front and bends its abdomen upward, frightening the enemy.

The mole cricket has 4 pairs of limbs. Wings are also limbs. And if you count the antennae and cerci, then the total number of limbs will be 12. In adult insects, the wings are hardly noticeable, since they are “twisted” into dense cords, which can be longer than the abdomen. But they are workers. The insect is capable of flight, but only in warm weather. The muscles that control the wings must be well warmed up in order to work at full strength and lift the massive body into the air.

The mole cricket's front paws have transformed into powerful earth scrapers. In shape, they resemble the paws of a mole and are intended for the same purpose: to dig passages in the ground. For this ability, the insect received the nickname “earthen crustacean”. Sometimes it is also called earthen bug. Absolutely incorrect name, since it is not a beetle. She is a member of the order Orthoptera, which also includes crickets and grasshoppers.

The middle pair of legs is unremarkable and looks the same as those of most insects. But the last pair is interesting because it resembles the underdeveloped legs of a grasshopper. But adults don't jump. Perhaps this is a “memory” of its common ancestor with grasshoppers and crickets.

Their sexual dimorphism is poorly developed. A male can be distinguished from a female by size: females are larger, and by sound: the male’s chirping is louder.

What do larvae look like?

For some reason, you can often find a caterpillar-like May beetle larva as an example. Apparently this stems from a lack of understanding of the difference between insects with complete and incomplete metamorphosis.

Worm-like larvae are beetles with complete metamorphosis. The larva then pupates and the imago emerges from the pupa. But the mole cricket is not a beetle, but an Orthoptera. She has an incomplete transformation cycle. This means that there will be no pupation.

The mole cricket eggs hatch into larvae whose external body shape resembles an adult insect. Although in the close-up photo they look more like termite queens: light-colored and with very large abdomens. The relationship with other orthopterans is indicated by the ability to jump, which is lost as it grows. But mole cricket nymphs already have all the main organs of adult individuals. The larvae grow for 2-3 years. They pass several molts, becoming more and more like their parents. The nymph of the last stage of development is almost no different from the adult individual, but has a lighter color and is not yet capable of reproduction.