Introduction and Spread of Pest Mole Crickets: Scapteriscus vicinus and S. acletus Reexamined1

Abstract

Neither of the mole crickets most damaging to turf, pastures, and crops in southeastern United States is taxonomically what it has been thought to be. Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder, also called “changa” or “Puerto Rican mole cricket,” is distinct in calling song and interdactyl distance from the species known by the same name in Puerto Rico. Therefore its introduction at Brunswick, GA, ca. 1899, was from some other source. By 1960 its U.S. distribution included all of Florida, southern Georgia, and southernmost South Carolina. No additional spread has been reported during the past 20 years. Scapteriscus acletus Rehn and Hebard, long believed native to southeastern United States, was introduced at Brunswick, Georgia, ca. 1904. It was apparently introduced anew at Charleston, SC (ca. 1915), Mobile, AL (ca. 1919), and Port Arthur, TX (ca. 1925). Variations in pronotal color patterns suggest that the Charleston and Port Arthur introductions had a different origin than the Brunswick and Mobile introductions. By 1960, acletus had spread throughout Florida and southern Georgia, as far north as southern North Carolina, and as far west as eastern Louisiana; it had also occupied a large disjunct area in western Louisiana and eastern Texas. It has since spread to central Louisiana and been collected at scattered localities northward. Neither S. vicinus nor S. acletus reached peninsular Florida prior to 1925, but Scapteriscus abbreviatus Scudder, a flightless species of minor pest status, was introduced at six coastal cities of peninsular Florida, as well as at Brunswick, Georgia, prior to 1925. The homelands of U.S. Scapteriscus spp. should be located and their pathogens, parasites, and predators studied as potential biological control agents.