Have you seen more crickets than usual? A sudden surge of cricket infestations has hit Louisiana. LSU Ag Center Entomologist Aaron Ashbrook says crickets are on the hunt for food after recent rain.
“The adults and large nymphs, they’ll start to move around looking for new areas to either overwinter or hibernate in, or new food sources. And so, we’re seeing them kind of aggregate in large amounts, sometimes by light”
August and September are the prime time of the year for both field cricket and mole cricket activity. It is also mating season, and dry conditions have provided more places for crickets to lay eggs. Ashbrook says the small, dark, and shiny crickets seen around the Bayou State are field crickets. While mole crickets…
“They are an inch and a quarter to about two inches, light brown in color, and they have these like shovel forearms or legs.”
Ashbrook points out the lifespan of a cricket averages around 90 days, so a decrease in population can be expected in the upcoming fall months. But if they are a nuisance, he suggests sealing all possible entry points to your home to keep them out.
“Sealing cracks and crevices, checking your doors to see if there could be an entry point there, and seeing if you could do some corrections in order to prevent them from entering your home.”
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