Mormon crickets arrived late this spring, but they’re out in force in Idaho roads, plants
If you drive out to the desert south of Boise, that may not be gravel you hear crunching under your tires.
Owyhee County is experiencing a late emergence of Mormon crickets. The insects — which are actually a type of katydid — have swarmed Southwest Idaho, Nevada and Utah in recent years, where they cover roads and devour plants. This year, officials said, they’re seeing an increase in the number of Idahoans requesting assistance to deal with Mormon cricket impacts on agriculture.
Sam Kellendy, Idaho State Department of Agriculture’s grasshopper and Mormon cricket program coordinator, told the Idaho Statesman in an interview that the insects are “doing well this year.”
“With all the water, there’s a lot of food for them,” Kellendy said.
Kellendy said typically the department starts getting requests for assistance — or complaints about Mormon cricket infestations —from agricultural producers in late March. Thanks to a long winter, requests started around early May this year.
Kellendy said they’ve received 52 requests for pest management information and/or insecticide bait since May. In order to qualify for the assistance program, a person needs to have at least five acres of land used for agricultural production, as well as an “active infestation” of at least three Mormon crickets per square yard.
The number of requests the agency received in May was triple what it received last May, Kellendy added. They said that trend appears to be continuing into June.
“This increase could be impacted by the number of people who are aware of and utilizing the program, but it may also be impacted by the severity of infestations and number of people impacted by Mormon cricket swarms,” Kellendy said in an email.
Mormon crickets are native to Idaho and earned their name in the 1800s after decimating crops in Utah that were planted by settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to Washington State University. Though the Idaho Department of Agriculture baits the insects and uses insecticides to reduce their numbers where they threaten plants or make roadways unsafe, Nic Zurfluh, the agency’s invasive species bureau chief, said the goal is not to eliminate the species.
“We’re dealing with a native species that does have a place in these native ecosystems,” Zurfluh told the Idaho Statesman in an interview. “We’re not trying to get around that in any way. We’re just trying to control that economic damage.”
Mormon cricket populations surge every 15 to 20 years, according to previous Statesman reporting. At the peak of those surges — like we’re in now — they can number in the millions and be found “marching” in large groups across the desert, where they can quickly eat through vegetation and even cannibalize one another.
The vast swarms can create slick areas on roads as the insects are crushed under vehicle tires.
“When they’re getting rolled over, they’re popping and squishing — it’s really gross,” Kellendy said.
It can also create dangerous driving conditions. Kellendy said when Mormon crickets become an issue on roadways, the agency baits the insects to the side of the road and works with the Idaho Transportation Department to clear dead crickets off the roads.
Mormon crickets also give off a pungent odor when they’re run over. Kellendy described it as “distinct” and sickly sweet.
The insects may give you the creepy crawlies, but they’re harmless to humans. The long, pointed “tail” some Mormon crickets have is not a stinger but an ovipositor. Females use the ovipositor to deposit their eggs in the soil. Eggs can remain in the soil for years before hatching.
