Mormon Crickets

Mormon Crickets

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
It's not exactly an invasion as of yet, but Mormon crickets have appeared in Idaho. I talked with Idaho Department of Agriculture's Lloyd Knight. "Are we being invaded? I know that they can devastate crops. There have been a few around, it's just another year of this. These things can go in a bit of a cycle and at least in some locations, this is the year to have some crickets. When you say a few, we all picture the devastation that they can create. I've seen movies where there are dark clouds of crickets and locusts. They stretch for miles and miles. Is that what we are looking at, is that melodramatic? I would say that that was taking artistic license. But, we do have some areas that are dealing with infestations and we do what we can do.

Tom Elias who owns a vineyard in Owyhee County was quoted as saying that because of the hard winter we experienced this past year, he lost 85% of his grapes and, of the 15% left, those were taken out by a storm of Mormon crickets going through his vineyard.

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