Gryllotalpa Gryllotalpa Research Articles

The habitat-suitability models of the European mole cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa) as information tool for conservation and pest management

The European mole cricket, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa, feeds on a wide range of crops and can also damage plants with its burrowing activities. In suitable habitats (like those with damp, rich soils in flood plains), G. gryllotalpa numbers can increase to high levels. On the other hand, the abundance of G. gryllotalpa has dramatically decreased in north-western Europe partly due to direct eradication and excessive pest control. Using habitat suitability modelling, we identified areas suitable for G. gryllotalpa occurrence based on previous reports of its occurrence and based on environmental data. We limited our study area to regions where G. gryllotalpa is the only known Gryllotalpa species. The most important variables in our models were found to be relative air humidity and minimum soil temperature of the coldest month. We suggest that soil temperature is a limiting factor for European mole cricket occurrence in the Czech Republic because most areas in the country experience soil temperatures just below 0 °C, while most reports of G. gryllotalpa occurrence in Europe are from areas where the soil temperature does not drop below 0 °C. The models we have developed can provide information on possible occurrences of the mole cricket and thus improve the decision-making process both in the field of pest control and the conservation of this species.

Evaluation of the virulence of entomopathogenic nematodes as a biological control agents against Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa (Gryllotalpidae)

AbstractThe European mole cricket Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Linnaeus (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) is a key pest of several crops in different regions of the world. The mole crickets usually damage seedlings, feeding aboveground on foliage or stem tissue and belowground on roots and tubers. In biological control, entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are used against many insect pests inhabiting the soil as safe alternatives to chemical pesticides. The present study aimed to evaluate the virulence of the EPNs Heterorhabditis bacteriophora strain (HP88) and Steinernema carpocapsae strain (All) against the adults of European mole cricket G. gryllotalpa under laboratory and field conditions. Three concentrations of each of the EPNs H. bacteriophora and S. carpocapsae were tested against G. gryllotalpa. Infected adults of the pest with nematodes, at the concentration of 2000/cup, attained a mortality rate of (96%), when treated with S. carpocapsae and (72%) when treated with H. bacteriophora 8 days post‐treatments. Mortality percentage of G. gryllotalpa adults increased as the concentration of the nematodes increased. Adults' mortality of G. gryllotalpa reached 100% when treated with the combination of the 2 nematode's strains at all concentrations 4 days post‐treatments. At the 3 tested concentrations, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 IJs/adults, H. bacteriophora showed a higher reproductive rate in vivo than S. carpocapsae. A single adult of G. gryllotalpa treated with H. bacteriophora produced the average of 29,972, 74,768 and 140,474 IJs/adult, at the 3 concentrations, respectively. Under field application, a combination of EPNs successfully reduced the loss of the cabbage seedlings and the population's number of the mole crickets after 3 applications in the 2 seasons of (2019 and 2020). Therefore, EPNs as biological control agents can be recommended against the mole cricket G. gryllotalpa in vegetable crops as s pest management practice in an integrated pest management programme.

Orthoptera and allies in the Maritime provinces, Canada: new records and updated provincial checklists

We provide an updated checklist of Orthoptera and their allies for each Maritime province of Canada with details for 21 new species records. Drumming Katydid (Meconema thalassinum), recorded from Nova Scotia (NS) and Prince Edward Island (PEI), and Sprinkled Grasshopper (Chloealtis conspersa), recorded from New Brunswick (NB) are reported for the first time from the Maritimes as a whole. We report range extensions in the Maritime region for Australian Cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae; NB), Treetop Bush Katydid (Scudderia fasciata; NS), Short-legged Camel Cricket (Ceuthophilus brevipes; PEI), Spotted Camel Cricket (Ceuthophilus maculatus; PEI), Roesel’s Shield-backed Katydid (Roeseliana roesellii; NS), and Black-horned Tree Cricket (Oecanthus nigricornis; PEI). Short-winged Mole Cricket (Neoscapteriscus abbreviatus; NB) and European Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa; NS) are reported as adventives (non-native species that are believed to be not yet established), new to Canada from the Maritimes. Other new records for species not known to be established are Lined Earwig (Doru taeniatum; NS), Australian Cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae; PEI), American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana; NB), Brown Cockroach (Periplaneta brunnea; PEI), Smooth Cockroach (Nyctibora laevigata; NB), West Indian Leaf Cockroach (Blaberus discoidalis; NB), an unidentified Parcoblatta species (NB), Brown-banded Cockroach (Supella longipalpa; PEI), Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa; NB), and American Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca americana; NS).

Studying the efficacy of fipronil (GR 0.2%) against European Mole Cricket, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae)

The European Mole Cricket, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae), is a key pest of several crops in different regions of the world, damaging seedlings, roots and tubers. The efficacy of fipronil (Regent ® GR 0.2%) @ 2, 2.5 and 3 g/m2 along with toxic bait of carbaryl (EC 85%)@ 20 g/m2 were assessed against this pest in the field based on a completely randomized block design. Based on Henderson-Tilton formula, on the third day after treatment, the efficacy of fipronil @ 2, 2.5 and 3 g/m2 and carbaryl bait was 16%, 30%, 47% and 53%, respectively; while on the third day after treatment, the efficacy was 22%, 48%, 64% and 81%, respectively. At present, carbaryl application is banned in Iran; therefore, fipronil can be a suitable substitute for this insecticide.

Effect of extracts from the Chinese and European mole cricket on wound epithelialization and neovascularization: in vivo studies in the hairless mouse ear wound model

Until the end of World War II, oily extracts from the European mole cricket, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Linné, were used for treating nonhealing wounds and burns. In traditional Chinese medicine, extracts from the Chinese mole cricket, Gryllotalpa africana Beauvois, have been used to treat boils, abscesses, and ulcers successfully for over two centuries and are still being used today. The aim of this study was twofold: first, to measure the effect mole cricket extracts have on wound epithelialization and neovascularization, and second, to identify the active compounds in the Chinese and German mole cricket extracts. For the first aim, the hairless mouse ear wound model was used. The findings showed that wounds treated with the mole cricket extracts epithelialized significantly faster than control wounds 12.7+/-0.9 and 13.2+/-1.4 days vs. 16.3+/-2.2 days (mean+/-SD, p<0.05), respectively. While the rate of wound neovascularization was significantly increased in the first 3 days postwounding from that point on, the rate in treated wounds was the same as in controls. To identify the active compounds in the mole cricket extracts, the extracts were fractionated and tested in a foreskin basal keratinocyte cell culture assay. In this assay, the migration of keratinocytes is similar to skin cell migration or reepithelialization in a healing wound. Using this method, we found the active compound in the mole cricket extracts to be linoleic acid methyl ester. All other fatty acid structures that were isolated were found to be inactive.

A new species of larval Neothrombium Feider, 1959 (Acari: Neothrombiidae) from Iran

Neothrombium mojdehii sp. nov. (Acari: Neothrombiidae) is described and illustrated from a larva ectoparasitic on adults of Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa L. (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) from Kazerun, Iran. A key to species (larva) of Neothrombium of the world is presented.

Acoustic Isolation in the Speciation of Mole Crickets1

The calling song of crickets is species specific (Alexander 1967) and differences between the songs of closely related species are “possibly the best indication that speciation has been completed” (Bigelow 1964). Two chromosomal forms of Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa L., the European mole cricket, have been reported from Israel Kushnir 1952). The 23-chromosome form is apparently limited to the highly saline (6.6% Cl−) soils bordering the Dead Sea, while the 19-chromosome form has a wide ecogeographical distribution in Israel. Sexually mature adults of the 2 forms could meet in areas such as the Feshcha Springs on the northwestern shore, or Neot Hakikar at the southern tip of the Dead Sea.

A Case of Parental Care in the Heteroptera

Parental care is well known in certain insects with complete metamorphosis, especially the Hymenoptera, but it is not common in insects with incomplete metamorphosis, except in the Isoptera. The Dermaptera, Embiidina and a European mole cricket care for their young and are said to be incipiently social or subsocial. Kirkaldy (1903) summarizes the subject of parental care in non-social insects especially the Rhynchota. In the lace bugs (Tingitidae) groups of nymphs are frequently found with females on the under surfaces of their respective hosts, but associations of this sort are not cases of parental care; the nymphs and the adults are together only because the females continue to lay eggs over a comparatively long period.

Gryllotalpa Gryllotalpa Linn., The European Mole Cricket in New Jersey

During the early part of July, 1915, my attention was called to an underground insect which was cutting off the roots of various plants in a nursery at Rutherford, N. J. Upon making a search, a mole cricket considerably larger than our common but by no means abundant Gryllotalpa borealis Burm., was found to be responsible for the injury. Mr. J. A. G. Rehn, to whom a specimen was submitted, pronounced it Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Linn., the European mole cricket. The infestation which is undoubtedly of several years' duration, extends over several acres planted to herbaceous and ornamental stock, a considerable portion of which is used for show purposes only. The soil is rather light and porous and contains a variety of shrubs, shade trees, evergreens, etc., such as one would naturally find in a nursery. No preference was shown by the cricket for any particular plant, its zig-zag burrows being found in different parts of the area irrespective of the kinds of plants growing there.