CONTROL OF PEST MOLE CRICKETS (ORTHOPTERA: GRYLLOTALPIDAE) IN BAHIAGRASS PASTURES WITH THE NEMATODE STEINERNEMA SCAPTERISCI (RHABDITIDA: STEINERNEMATIDAE)

Abstract

Mole crickets, Scapteriscus spp., cause nearly $100 million annual losses in revenue to cattle producers in south-central Florida, with about 50% of that loss due to reduced forage and hay production and 50% due to need for pasture renovation (Adjei et al. 2003). Mole cricket damage to pasture and turf grasses principally is caused by the tawny mole cricket S. vicinus Scudder feeding on roots, and by shallow tunneling (galleries) by both S. vicinus and the southern mole cricket, S. borellii Giglio-Tos (Walker & Ngo 1982; Hudson 1985). Damage first appears as yellow patches of grass that later turn brown and die. In areas of high population densities of mole crickets, the surface soil layer is honeycombed with numerous galleries and the ground feels spongy when stepped on. Heavily damaged bahiagrass ( Paspalum notatum Fluegge) has virtually no root system and plants are easily pulled from the soil by cattle as they graze or walk. Treatment of a large cattle pasture in Florida to control mole crickets is prohibitively expensive and impractical. No insecticide is registered by EPA for mole cricket control in pastures. Consequently, we wanted to see if natural dispersal of mole crickets infected with the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema scapterisci Nguyen & Smart (1990) would reduce the population of mole crickets and