Is a mole cricket an insect? Get to know this common underground pest

The mole cricket, also called la la gu, di la gu, tu gou zai, di gou zi, shui gou, dou hou, cao gou, can be seen in most parts of our country. So is it an insect? What are its living habits?

Is a mole cricket an insect?

The mole cricket is an insect, belonging to the order Orthoptera, family Gryllotalpidae. It is mainly divided into several species, including the North China mole cricket, the Oriental mole cricket, the Taiwan, China mole cricket and the common mole cricket, and is distributed in most parts of our country.

What are the living habits of the mole cricket?

The mole cricket overwinters underground as an adult or nymph, and rises to the surface to become active after Qingming. From early May to mid-June is its most active time, June to July is the peak egg-laying period, and after mid-October it successively burrows into deep soil to overwinter. They like sweet and fragrant substances, such as half-cooked millet, roasted soybean cake, wheat bran and organic fertilizers such as horse manure, and will harm corn and the seedlings of its crops.

The mole cricket is a polyphagous pest, and will gnaw on the stems and leaves of various vegetables. So before planting the plants, you can first do a good job of prevention and control, either by irrigating with chemicals or by dressing seeds with chemicals. In addition, a certain amount of control chemicals should also be sprayed on the seedlings.