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Dina FreedmanMormon Crickets have devastated crops over the past three summers in Utah, but this year might be different. Last year's weather may play a role in the cricket craze this summer.
Mormon Crickets are known for being not just be a nuisance, but downright destructive, but there may be a lull in the outbreaks starting this year. In Utah, while we usually miss a lot of types of disasters that affect the rest of the country, we are prone to a native insect that can be pretty dangerous.
Donald Feemer, Biology Professor, Univ. of Utah: "When we have an outbreak, they can crawl through an alfalfa field and strip it bear, so this is a concern."
He's talking about the Mormon cricket, a nasty critter that eats over 400 species of plants and even other dead bugs.
Donald Feemer: "We really don't understand in detail what causes the outbreak. It's a change in behavior that makes them more gregarious, that makes them hang around, hang around together."
The female cricket lays about 86 eggs on average each year. They also take a break from eating when the weather gets wet or windy.
Donald Feemer: "But most of the time, very few eggs survive and there are many other insects in the world that can hundreds of thousands of eggs."
During the spring of 2005 we had unusually wet weather, from March to May about 3.5 inches of extra water. This means the crickets didn't make a large egg base, so there will be less of them, except in Box Elder County, where the numbers may still be high.
Donald Feemer: "The outbreaks come in cycles, and apparently in a typical decade there are three years out of 10 where the crickets are at what are called outbreak proportions."
If we do remain cool and moist at hatching time this spring, the number of crickets will be lower. The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food and USDA are planning to treat the ground in Box Elder County with pesticides, and have already met with land owners there.
