The mole cricket, or earthen crayfish, is one of the most malicious pests of our gardens. Appearance it really looks more like a crustacean than an insect. And the gluttony is simply fantastic. He happily eats bulbs, gnaws off the roots of wheat and other cereals, eats up root vegetables so that only the skin remains. It does not spare either seeds just thrown into the ground or young shoots. Seedlings also suffer from it fruit trees, stone fruit and berry crops.
Owners of plots that have been attacked by crayfish are constantly inventing new means to combat mole crickets. But their efforts, more often than not, lead to success only for a short time.
Spending the main part of their life in the thickness of the earth, these insects fly well. Can overcome long distances at a height of up to five meters above the ground. Capable of crossing even water obstacles. Their omnivorous nature and mobility allow them to quickly colonize new areas where there is food and acceptable conditions for building nests. All this leads to the fact that, using the same remedies against mole crickets from year to year, it is almost impossible to remove it. To combat this scourge, an integrated approach is required, including prevention, mechanical destruction, and chemicals.
Preventive and deterrent agents
It is best to try to prevent the mole cricket from infesting your garden or vegetable garden, rather than fight it long and hard. To do this, first of all, you need to take care of reliable insulation and manure heaps, where these pests love to nest. Too much food, especially fresh food, which is in the public domain, greatly increases the risk of such uninvited tenants appearing.
It has long been noted that mole crickets cannot tolerate pungent and pungent odors. Experienced gardeners They plant garlic, mint, chrysanthemums, calendula, and marigolds around the perimeter of their beds. They make grooves filled with onion peels, stick aspen branches into the ground, and bury fish heads and other remains. Sometimes they even use sand soaked in kerosene or naphthalene.
Some gardeners, in order to prevent mole crickets from entering their beds, mulch them with crushed eggshells. To do this, you must first plant the seedlings, then water them well and sprinkle them with a thick layer of shells. You can add a little humus or fresh sawdust on top. The pest does not like solid particles of shells and sawdust, disorienting it with its smell and preventing it from getting close to the plants.
To protect the roots of seedlings from the encroachment of mole crickets, it is enough to protect them with a plastic cup with holes for the roots or even just a bag of old nylon socks. Both are buried in the ground along with the plant and have virtually no effect on its growth and development.
Mole crickets cannot stand the smell of chicken droppings. If you water the plants with its solution from time to time, using it instead, you can almost get rid of these pests.
Sometimes it is possible to avoid the invasion of earthen crayfish with the help of windmills mounted on scraps of metal pipes. It is better to make propellers from tin or other suitable material that produces as much noise as possible. The vibration created by the rotating parts is transmitted through the pipes down into the soil, and is perceived by insects as a danger.
You can purchase special mole cricket repellers. These electronic devices do not have any effect on animals or people. As a rule, they are equipped with autonomous power sources that do not require frequent changes and special supervision. Ultrasonic generator, standing inside the body of the repeller, emits waves of such a frequency that the normal human ear simply does not perceive. But mole crickets hear very well - the wave propagates in the soil no worse than in the air. High sensitivity to ultrasonic vibrations forces crayfish to leave the place they like rather than build nests there to breed offspring.
A very original way not only to limit the ability of a mole cricket to move, but also to force it to loosen its beds, was invented in one of the gardening areas of the Karelian Isthmus. There they simply divide the ridges into squares with grooves 3 - 4 cm wide and 10 - 15 cm deep. Ordinary wood shavings left after construction work. As usual, soil is poured on top and plants are planted. The pest, moving inside the soil, encounters a layer of shavings and, without trying to overcome it, turns back. Thus, he finds himself locked in the square where he ended up.
Biological agents
In the fight against mole crickets, you should not neglect the help of their natural enemies. They are, first of all, birds - starlings and crows. They not only enjoy eating these insects themselves, but also feed their chicks with them.
Mole crickets destroy eggs, and hedgehogs and lizards prey on adults and their larvae. Pests are also killed by the bites of the Larra wasp, which drives them out of the area.
Biological control agents also include the use of “Boverin”, a drug intended for treating seedlings and seedlings. It is believed to be harmless to animals, as well as to humans.
Mechanical means of destruction
The simplest “folk” remedy for mole crickets is ordinary soapy water. Even a “used” solution of laundry detergent or dishwashing detergent will do. They simply fill trenches dug by insects. Of course, adults will not suffer too much from this. But the temperature and microclimate of the nests will be disturbed, some of the larvae will be washed away, and the eggs will die.
Various traps are more effective. The simplest of them can be made from thick cardboard, pieces of plywood or boards. They should be laid out on the beds in early spring, while there is no planting yet. Ground crayfish often crawl out of their holes in the morning to bask under such shelters. If you walk along the beds in the middle of the day with a bucket of water flavored with a small amount of kerosene, you can collect a lot of pests from under these objects.
Another simple trap is a glass jar with food bait, which is dug vertically into the soil, up to the very edges. Attracted by the smell, the mole crickets fall into the jar, from which they can no longer get out. The bait can be manure, pieces of root vegetables or honey, which is used to lubricate the neck from the inside.
A convenient trap is made from a beer bottle, at the bottom of which a certain amount of aromatic drink remains. In the spring, it should be dug into the ground at an angle of approximately 45 degrees and the neck should be covered with gauze.
In the fall, an ordinary pit filled with manure can also serve as a trap. The mole crickets will gather there for the winter. Simply remove the manure along with the insects and burn it.
Chemicals
When there are a lot of mole crickets on the site, and it is not possible to get rid of them in other ways, you have to use chemicals.
Some gardeners are trying to use preparations intended for mole crickets. But, as a rule, their effectiveness turns out to be too low, but the costs are high. In addition, most of these products can only be used 2-3 times per season, and the fight against mole crickets must be carried out year-round.
One of the most popular modern means for the mole cricket is the drug " Medvetox" It is produced on a natural basis and consists of granules for burying in the ground. It is best to place them at a depth of up to 5 cm near the passages made by pests. The product has an attractive smell and taste for insects, and retains its effect for more than a month, without disintegrating even during watering. Eating it, earthen crayfish die.
« Grizzly" - a drug with the same effect as Medvetox. But it acts not only against adults, killing larvae as well.
Similar to “Grizzly” and “Medvetox”, the drug is used “ Thunder", designed to destroy pests living underground. Its validity period is limited to two weeks.
Granular insecticide " Phenaxin Plus"is a ready-made bait for a mole cricket. Its activity continues for three weeks.
Suitable for combating mole crickets and powder " Bankol" It is embedded into the soil to a depth of about 3 cm. Unlike others, it is considered to have low toxicity for people and warm-blooded animals.
The most common problem that gardeners have on their property is the appearance of mole crickets. For this reason, various remedies for mole crickets have become very popular. Among them there are many different traps, poisons, protective barriers, as well as special methods of cultivating the land, which we will tell our readers about in more detail.
IN rural farms The fight against mole crickets has been going on for a very long time, and new ways are constantly being used to get rid of these pests. Previously, the fight against mole crickets took place mainly using folk remedies. Many of them are capable of having a positive effect, but there is still no drug or product that could guarantee a 100% result and at the same time prevent the appearance of insects on the land.
The mole cricket is capable of infecting many vegetable crops and other plants, and not just potatoes, as novice gardeners believe.
“Mole cricket” refers mainly to one type of insect that is found on the site, but you should know that this name defines an entire family. It includes more than a hundred various types insects with similar structural features and lifestyle.
On average, the length of an adult can reach 5-6 centimeters. They have an elongated body and a sharp head. The peculiarity of the structure of this insect is that it has two wide legs stretched out in front, with which it rakes the ground, like a mole. Thanks to this body shape, he is able to move very quickly underground, creating a network of passages for himself.
“Top” often appears in soil where manure, urea, bird droppings, and rotted organic matter have recently been used. 
The mole cricket overwinters at a depth of 1.5-2 meters, and when it gets warmer on the surface or a thaw sets in, they begin to crawl out.
When a mole cricket appears in the garden, the first thing to worry about is the root crops. Insects primarily feed on those plants that are underground - potatoes, beets, radishes, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, onions, etc.
Also at risk are vegetable crops that grow on the surface of the earth. Pests begin to eat tomatoes, which are usually too low above the ground (not tied up), lettuce peppers, eggplants, and cabbage leaves. Sometimes these insects can take a liking to flowers, eating their rhizomes and foliage.
If root crops are grown in one area for a long time, then the likelihood of a “top” appearing on the area increases.
Getting rid of the “top” is a very labor-intensive process. For a long time, farmers have been using it against mole crickets. folk remedies.
If you are wondering how to deal with a mole cricket, then you should familiarize yourself with all in effective ways that have already been tried experienced gardeners. Then you will need to select several of them to increase the level of efficiency.
Video “How to get rid of a pest”
This video shows effective methods fight against mole crickets.
Mechanical tillage
You can fight mole crickets in the garden by roughly digging up the soil. Mechanical tillage of the soil should be carried out in the spring, as early as possible after the frosts have subsided. Thus, gardeners destroy the nests of the “top”, as well as the created networks of underground tunnels. In addition, deep digging of the site significantly complicates the movement and feeding of insects. During the growing season of plants, it is advisable to loosen the soil to a depth of at least 20 centimeters.
Manure traps
A special trap hole of any size is created (it is enough to dig a hole half a meter long and half a meter wide). The hole is then filled with herbivore dung to attract the insect's attention. Here they often settle for the winter. When cold weather sets in, preferably sub-zero temperatures, farmers come to this pit and rake out the frozen manure with a shovel. At this time, all the “tops” are hibernating, so they cannot quickly escape and begin to die in the cold.
In the spring, these holes attract pests, and they lay eggs there, and not in the soil where vegetables grow.
Poisoned baits
Among the means used to combat mole crickets, you can find baits with poison. Farmers prepare cereal grains and then treat them with a special drug - Aldrin. For one kilogram of grains, it is enough to use 50 grams of this product.
Bathing in oil or soapy water
If you want to know how to remove mole crickets from the garden without using strong chemicals, then you can use the following method.
As soon as the underground passages of the “top” were discovered when digging up the site, you will need to pour a couple of grams of vegetable oil there, and then let it go running water straight into the hole. 
You can also use soap and water as an alternative to oil. Laundry soap dissolves in water in a ratio of 1 to 5 (you can use inexpensive washing powder). Soapy water will quickly drive insects out of their holes.
Shadow Traps
Another remedy for mole crickets, which is considered a folk remedy, is shadow traps.
Pests prefer to be in warm places, so they are constantly looking for them. You can place pieces of dark material (sheet of rubber, plastic, metal) in the sun, and put a piece of bait under it. When the sun begins to set, you will need to check the traps by lifting them and eliminate the insects.
Beer and water traps
A small hole is dug in the ground, and a glass jar of the same size is placed there so that its neck is level with the ground surface. Then a third of the can is filled with cheap beer. The hole needs to be closed, leaving a small gap so that the mole cricket can crawl through it (one and a half centimeters will be enough). Instead of beer, you can pour water, but to attract pests you will need to smear the edges of the jar with honey.
Using barriers
It should be remembered that the “top” cannot by itself overcome smooth vertical obstacles (for example, plastic, nylon mesh). In this regard, special protective structures or plastic or similar material can be used. The main thing is that it is convenient to bend and remains durable.
Taking plastic bottles, cut off the neck, and then cut out even rings up to 7-8 centimeters wide. After this, they will need to be stuck into the ground with the edge so that the plastic peeks out 2-3 centimeters above the ground. Thus, a barrier will appear that the mole cricket will not be able to climb over. To protect the stem of the plants, it is common to use rubber or plastic tubes, placing them on the outside of the seedlings. After this, the plant is planted in the usual way, paying attention to the rubber tube peeking above the ground.
Video “Methods of struggle”
In the video, the author shares his experience of pest control.
Gardeners and vegetable gardeners, in whose areas these malicious pests have settled, have been fighting them for years and at the same time cannot destroy them completely. Using only one method or one remedy for mole cricket, it is impossible to remove it. These insects damage root system plants, causing their death. They eat the bulbs, leaving only the skin of the root vegetables. If measures are not taken in a timely manner, the mole cricket can destroy most of the crop.
The mole cricket looks quite menacing - considerable size for an insect, powerful chitinous shell, strong, large limbs
In order to achieve a large and high-quality harvest of vegetable and garden crops on the site, summer residents have to work a lot. But if a mole cricket appears on the site, all your efforts will be in vain. This voracious pest is capable of devastating garden beds in a short time.
Mole cricket (cabbage weed, crayfish, top) is a soil-dwelling insect, reaching a length of 5–8 cm. It has a very menacing appearance: the front part of the body is covered with chitinous “armor”, on the head there are a pair of fairly large and keen eyes, four movable tentacles and large mustaches frame powerful jaws. The insect's forelimbs are perfectly adapted for digging and resemble mole paws. They seem to be turned inside out and equipped with wide jagged “blades”.
In search of food, the mole cricket digs through numerous underground passages at shallow depths, while chewing through the roots of plants, eating away the cores of root crops, bulbs and tubers. These insects destroy almost any garden plants: cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, legumes, beets, melons and other crops. They happily feed on the roots of cereals (rye, wheat, corn, oats), and eat seeds sown in the soil and young shoots. Pests also gnaw seedlings of fruit, stone fruit and berry crops. Considering that mole crickets reproduce quickly, one can imagine how devastating their invasion is. Therefore, for many gardeners, protection against mole crickets becomes a top priority. These insects spend most of their lives underground. In addition, they fly quite well, rising to a height of 0.5 to 5 meters and covering fairly large distances, and also swim excellently. Having moved to neighboring areas and finding conditions suitable for life there, they burrow into the ground, build nests and lay eggs. The high mobility and adaptability of insects leads to the fact that control measures taken against mole crickets often turn out to be ineffective.
Electronic pest repellers - such as Antikrot - are quickly gaining popularity due to their convenience and environmental friendliness
The specificity of the mole cricket's way of life is such that using only one means, it is almost impossible to cope with the pest. Therefore, gardeners usually resort to a set of measures to protect their plots from these insects. Moreover, it is most effective to simultaneously use mechanical and chemical means of combating mole crickets. But they do not protect against pests flying from neighboring areas. By adding an electronic device—a mole cricket repeller—to standard protection methods, this problem can be solved.
Mechanical means:
- Many gardeners protect each plant of peppers, tomatoes and other crops with metal or plastic rings (for example, cut from a plastic bottle), which are buried 10 - 15 cm into the soil, leaving 2 cm above the surface. The mole cricket moves in the upper layers of the earth, so it cannot penetrate the root system of protected plants.
- To protect plantings of carrots, dill, and beets, entire beds are fenced in the same way. For these purposes, any material is used that is too tough for pests - scraps of roofing felt, pieces of slate or plastic, strips of metal. Most insects will not be able to get to the plants, but you should carefully monitor and promptly fly inside the beds.
Chemicals:
- A modern, ready-to-use, natural-based product – “Medvetox”. It is produced in the form of granules, which are buried in the rows and next to pest passages to a depth of 3 to 5 cm. Insects eat the drug, which has an attractive smell and taste for them, and then die. Medvetox retains its effect for up to 4 weeks and does not disintegrate during rains and watering. A low application rate contributes to a low level of soil contamination.
- A drug similar to Medvetox with the same active ingredient – “Grizzly”, is effective against both adult insects and larvae. Produced in the form of granules.
- The drug “Thunder” is used to combat mole crickets and other pests that lead an underground lifestyle. It is produced in the form of granules and is used similarly to Medvetox. The period of active action is up to 2 weeks.
- Ready-made bait "Phenaxin Plus" is another type of effective granular insecticide for combating mole crickets. Protects plants for 2 – 3 weeks after application to the soil.
- To destroy pests, you can use the drug “Bankol”, which is not a special insecticide for mole crickets. Produced in powder form, it is low-toxic for people and animals. It is used in dry form (embedded in the soil to a depth of 2-3 cm) and in the form of a suspension for spraying against beetle pests.
- Among biological agents, positive reviews are found when using the drug “Boverin”. Used to treat seedlings and plant seedlings, it is practically safe for people and animals.
Cabbage repeller:
- Currently, to combat mole crickets, an electronic repeller of these pests is becoming increasingly popular. These devices do not have any harmful effects on people or animals. The repeller is equipped autonomous source power supply, which is capable of maintaining the operation of the device for a long time, without requiring supervision. Depending on the area of influence (depending on the specific model), the number of repellers that need to be placed on the site is calculated.
The repeller is a generator that emits waves that are not perceived by human hearing (ultrasound or infrasound). Vibrations spread in the ground force not only mole crickets, but also moles, shrews, hamsters and voles to leave the area.
To get started, just turn on the repeller and stick it into the soil to a depth of 5–20 cm.
Retail chains offer a fairly large selection of these devices: “TORNADO OZV”, “Grad A-500”, “Mole 1 (WK-0675)”, “Antikrot”, “Chiston-3”, “Ecosniper” and many other models. Quite an interesting solution - an electronic repeller on solar powered– “Stop Mole”, which does not require periodic replacement of batteries.
All devices of this type differ in area effective impact(coating), which should be taken into account when choosing a repeller.
Quite low cost, ease of use and high efficiency make these devices very attractive for combating mole crickets.
Fighting a mole cricket is not an easy task. To destroy this insect, you need to arm yourself with effective means. We will tell you which chemical and organic preparations are most effective against mole crickets.
Surely every gardener knows what a mole cricket looks like. This rather large dark brown insect has an abdomen 3 times larger than its head. At the same time, at the end of the abdomen there are 2 processes about 1 cm long, and on the head there are eyes, mustaches, tentacles and the oral cavity. The mole cricket also has 2 pairs of limbs and long scaly wings.
This insect rarely comes to the surface. But even if you notice it, you are unlikely to be able to catch it with your bare hands: the mole cricket flies well over long distances, swims and quickly digs holes. The pest lives mainly underground, chews through the roots and root crops of garden crops, and destroys seeds.
The presence of a mole cricket is indicated by small holes in the beds and loose mounds of soil that appear in the places where the insect moves.
Chemicals against mole crickets
On the shelves of gardening stores you can find a large number of chemical remedies for mole crickets. Many of them help get rid of other garden pests: chafer larvae, wireworms, garden ants.
| Drug name | Features of application |
| Medvetox | Active ingredient: diazinon 50 g/kg. Red granules are not phytotoxic and do not harm soil microflora and earthworms. The drug is placed between the beds in furrows 3-5 cm deep. The substance begins to act after 4 hours and protects the plant for at least 2 weeks. |
| Antimedvedka (granules and microgranules) | Active ingredient: imidacloprid 50 g/kg. The contents of the package are designed to process 10-15 acres. The bait is placed in the grooves between the beds when sowing and planting vegetables. |
| Medvecid | The contents of the package (100 g) are enough to process 10 sq.m. 5-10 granules are laid out in grooves 2-3 cm deep every 0.5-1 m. |
| Rembek | Insecticide bait with a strong odor is placed in holes and open passages. A package of the drug (360 g) is enough to treat up to 15 acres of land. |
| Boverin | The drug contains spores of the muscardine fungus Beauveria bassiana, which, when they get on the mole cricket’s skin, grow inside its body. This leads to the death of the insect. Crops are treated at intervals of 7-14 days, and the suspension is applied both to the plants themselves and to the soil. |
| Phenaxin plus | Active ingredient: malathion 50 g/kg. Granules with a taste and smell attractive to mole crickets are placed in the furrows before sowing seeds and after germination. The drug protects plants for up to 20 days. |
In addition to ready-made chemicals, used in the fight against mole crickets calcium carbide(5 g). It is poured into the holes made by the pest. After interaction with water (during watering or during rains), it begins chemical reaction, as a result of which acetylene gas is released, filling the mole cricket’s passages and destroying it.
Fuel is also an effective remedy: you can dilute 100 ml in 1 liter of water. kerosene and pour into the passages made by the bear.
Chemical preparations are often mixed with oatmeal, buckwheat, pea or pearl barley porridge, add sunflower oil and 1/2 tsp. In the evening, poisonous bait is laid out in the mole cricket's passages.
Folk remedies for mole crickets
Those who prefer to protect their garden without “chemicals” will be interested in learning how to get rid of mole crickets using folk remedies. Unfortunately, they do not give a 100% result, but they are absolutely safe for the health of humans and pets.
Bread with matches
Lightly moisten the black bread with water, knead it and roll it into several balls the size of a walnut. Stick 10-12 matches into each ball with the sulfur heads inward. When the bread softens, take out the matches and make smaller balls - the size of a pea. Scatter this bait around the garden and place several pieces directly into the mole cricket's passages.
Traps with beer or honey
In glass or plastic bottle(volume 0.5 l) with a wide neck, pour 100 g of beer or honey, dig the container into the ground at an angle in the place where the mole cricket moves, cover the top of the soil with a sheet of cardboard. Pests, moving through the tunnels, will fall into a trap from which they will not be able to escape. When the jar is full, replace it with a new one.
Dung piles
In early spring and during the autumn digging of the soil, place manure piles in the garden (it is advisable to use horse manure). Sensing the warmth, the mole crickets will crawl there and begin laying eggs. As soon as you find insects there, burn the traps. This way you will destroy the adults along with the larvae.
Soapy water
Add laundry or tar soap (100 g) to water (10 liters) and pour the resulting liquid in a small stream into the holes made by the bear at the rate of 2 liters per move. Chop up any insects that jump out of the hole with a shovel. The rest, who do not find a way out, will die underground.
Crush the pre-dried eggshells, pour in unrefined sunflower oil and place in the holes and grooves in which you are going to sow seeds or plant seedlings. After feasting on the shell, the mole cricket will die. And uneaten leftovers will serve as excellent organic fertilizer for soil.
Repellent odors
The mole cricket does not like the smell of some plants. Plant it in the garden marigolds, calendula, chrysanthemums. Place between beds conifer branches(pine, spruce, fir), stick fresh ones into the soil to a depth of about 30 cm aspen branches or alders(necessarily with bark) with a diameter of 2-4 cm.
You can also prepare an infusion onion peel and shed them the passages of the bear. Or place it in the holes garlic cloves.
The mole cricket also has natural enemies: starlings, crows, rooks, storks, and hedgehogs. Attract them to your site - and your “allies” will significantly reduce the number of this underground pest.
2013-05-26
Summer residents know well that growing crops on their plots requires spending a lot of effort, patience and time. But all the work will be in vain if there is a mole cricket in the garden. This soil-dwelling insect feeds on plant roots and earthworms, reproduces at tremendous speed and causes irreparable damage to garden areas.
Mole cricket, spinning top, earthen crayfish - the names of this pest are associated with its appearance. The mole cricket received its main name for the clumsiness and brown color of the body of adult individuals. Young insects are often called “tops” for their grayish color. The mole cricket is called the earthen crayfish for the presence of claws and a serrated file.
An adult insect sometimes reaches 5 cm and has a menacing appearance: on the head there are two large eyes, long antennae and two pairs of tentacles framing a gnawing-type mouthparts. The front pair of limbs are slightly turned out, like a mole's, and serve as an excellent tool for digging holes.
Voracious evil
When constructing its numerous underground labyrinths, it mercilessly destroys many garden plants, gnawing roots with its powerful jaws, eating tubers, bulbs and root crops. One day is enough for the pest to destroy 12 - 15 pepper or eggplant bushes.
Potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, onions, carrots, beets, and strawberries become victims of mole crickets. And this list is far from complete. The mole cricket also willingly devours grains - wheat, rye, barley, corn and oats. Does not refuse legumes - peas, lentils and beans; melons - watermelons and melons, as well as perennial herbs and flower crops. This insect causes especially great harm to seedlings in greenhouses, destroying sown seeds and eating seedlings and plant roots.
In nurseries and young gardens, the pest readily feasts on seedlings: apple, pear, plum, cherry, apricot, peach, as well as oak, beech, poplar, willow, pine, spruce and many other tree species.
In war as in war
The fight against mole crickets is becoming a matter of paramount importance for many owners of summer cottages. Some of them try to scare it away with pungent odors by planting mint and garlic. Marigolds sown at the border help close the way for unwanted migrants from neighboring areas - the mole cricket cannot stand their scent. To save their beds and greenhouses, gardeners fence them with furrows filled with sand soaked in kerosene. I.V. also repelled the pest in a similar way. Michurin. “I can’t say whether mole crickets died from kerosene, but that they disappeared is a fact,” the scientist wrote.
In summer they also use this method of fighting mole crickets: pour a few drops of sunflower oil into the opening of the pest’s hole and immediately pour 1-2 liters of water there from a watering can. A few minutes later, the mole cricket comes to the surface and dies. It is also practiced to fill the passages with soapy water, dissolving 10 g of laundry soap and 50 g of washing powder in a bucket of water. 1 - 2 minutes after 0.5 liters of soapy water has been poured into the hole, the mole cricket either dies or comes to the surface, where the insects are collected and destroyed.
good trap for crayfish can be a jar of water buried in the soil (water is not added to the edges by 5 - 8 cm), the edges of which are installed at ground level. It helps a lot too eggshell, which is ground into powder, flavored with sunflower oil and buried in the ground. The mole crickets will not refuse such a delicacy and, having tasted it, will die.
The most reliable way to combat pests for gardeners The construction of trap pits is considered. They are dug in the fall after harvesting vegetables (30 cm deep and 70 cm in diameter). Several shovels of manure are placed in the pits - the mole cricket willingly climbs there for the winter. On frosty days, manure with “winterers” is scattered over the surface of the earth, where insects die from the cold.
A powerful weapon against mole crickets
Owners of summer cottages fight mole crickets from year to year. Unfortunately, it is rarely successful. The matter is complicated by the fact that the insidious insect uses earth, water and air to move. At night, a mole cricket can fly considerable distances, it swims well and quickly, and navigates underground better than a mole.
If you have tried all the above folk remedies, but the mole cricket is still alive, do not be upset - there is a way out. There are a number of drugs available for sale to kill the pest. Among them - unique modern drug"Medvetox", which is a granular bait for annoying pests. The drug granules contain special substances that begin to act almost immediately after the insect eats them.
At the same time, the granules have an attractive smell and taste for mole crickets, so they will not miss such a “treat”. It is enough to bury the drug in the beds and between rows to a depth of 3-5 cm and soon you will find a dozen dead “monsters”. “Medvetox” is active in the soil for more than three weeks, destroying mole crickets. In this case, the granules slowly disintegrate in moist soil during watering and rain. Low consumption rate of the drug (2-3 g per 1 m2) minimizes the risk of contamination environment.
Means "Thunder" against mole crickets
Thunder
A bait preparation for combating mole crickets on vegetable and flower crops, strawberries, and potatoes. The product is ready for use. The contents of one package are designed to process 10 - 20 m2. To combat the mole cricket, the drug, 2 - 3 g (about 1 teaspoon), is placed in the mole cricket's burrows and passages to a depth of 3 - 5 cm at a distance of 0.5 - 0.7 m from each other.
After placing the bait, the passages are compacted. Dry soil is watered. The first treatment should be carried out 5 - 10 days before sowing seeds or planting plants, repeated - in case of restoration of mole cricket movements. If there is a large concentration of pests, it can be applied at other times. The period of protected action against the mole cricket is 10-14 days. The drug also allows you to fight garden ants in garden beds, under trees and shrubs, in greenhouses, and near buildings.
Weight - 20 g
The remedy "Bankol" against mole crickets
Bankol
An insecticide against coleoptera inhibits the transmission of signals to the central nervous system insects, causing them to first lose motor activity, stop feeding, and then die within 1-3 days. Therefore, the effectiveness of the drug should be assessed not only by the number of dead insects, but also by the degree of damage to plants. The drug is low-toxic for animals, birds and fish. Safe for bees, beneficial insects and the environment, does not accumulate in plants, water and soil. Effective both at normal and high temperatures, above + 30°C.
Thanks to its unique mechanism of action, it has high insecticidal activity against pest populations that are resistant to insecticides of other chemical classes. It is not washed off by precipitation from the surface of the crop within 2-3 hours after spraying, does not irritate the eyes, and does not have a pungent odor. Consumption 100 g per 10 m2. The powder is embedded in the soil to a depth of 3 - 5 cm with an interval of 10-15 cm.
Weight - 10, 25, 50 and 100 g
The remedy "Phenaxin Plus" against mole crickets
Phenaxin Plus
Ready-made bait in granules for protecting crops from mole crickets, with a taste and smell that is especially attractive to pests. The drug causes the death of mole crickets within three hours after eating the bait and protects plants from the pest for 14 - 20 days. The product does not inhibit plants, does not accumulate in the soil, but gradually decomposes in it.
10 days before sowing seeds or planting seedlings around the places where the mole cricket is most often found (beds, trunk circles, manure and compost heaps, improved soil), make grooves in the ground 2 - 3 cm deep and place bait in them at the rate of 3 - 5 granules (5-10g) every 0.5-1.0 m. After emergence, place the bait in grooves along the perimeter of the beds or around the plants (the dosage is the same). After adding the bait, dig in the grooves and water if necessary.
Weight - 100 g
Means "Grizzly" against the mole cricket
Grizzly
Destroys both adult insects and their larvae within the first two days after treatment. The drug is in an easy-to-use granular form. Special flavoring additives ensure excellent palatability of the bait. The product guarantees long-term protection - at least four weeks. Low toxicity for soil microorganisms and earthworms, does not accumulate in the soil.
Weight - 20 g
Medvetox against mole crickets
Medvetox
Ready-made bait in the form of granules, designed to protect vegetable and flower crops from mole crickets. The bait is so attractive to the mole cricket that the pest simply cannot refuse it. The taste and smell of the drug are carefully selected based on scientific knowledge about mole crickets, numerous experiments and tested in field conditions. The mole cricket dies a few hours after it eats the poison.
To combat the pest, furrows 3-4 cm deep are made between the beds or around them. Granules are poured into them. One evenly scattered packet should be enough for 10 - 15 m of furrow. It’s a good idea to lightly flavor the granules with vegetable oil. Fill the furrows with soil and water generously. The granules do not disintegrate in wet soil. The duration of the drug is more than 21 days. The low concentration (30 g per 10 m2 of planting) minimizes the risk of environmental pollution; the drug does not harm soil microflora.
Weight - 30 and 100 g
The breeding season for mole crickets is May-June. The insects make a small nest measuring 6x6 cm next to the main passage. In it they lay 300-500 eggs. After a couple of weeks, mobile gray larvae emerge from the eggs and leave the nest in late June - early July.
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