Mole Cricket

Scientific name:
(Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae)

Facts: Mole crickets have robust front legs highly modified for digging. They tunnel rapidly just below the soil surface and make trails of pushed-up soil similar to that of a mole only much smaller. Mole crickets can run very rapidly when on the soil surface. They are attracted to lights and are occasionally pests of vegetables.

Photo credit: Bastiaan (Bart) Drees, Extension Entomology, Texas A&M University