Gryllotalpa orientalis
Encyclopedia
Gryllotalpa orientalis is a species of mole cricket
in the family Gryllotalpidae, commonly known as the oriental mole cricket. It is found in much of Asia and also in Australasia. At one time this species was misidentified as G. africana and thought to have a widespread distribution in both Africa and Asia but in the 1980s, G. orientalis was recognised as a separate species. It is a polyphagous pest, damaging crops by gnawing their roots.
e, forelegs designed for digging and a large oblong pronotum. The wings project slightly from beneath the forewings. After mating underground, the female builds a nesting chamber deep in the soil and lays about two hundred oval eggs which hatch after ten days. The nymphs
remain in their nest for the first two or three weeks, guarded by the female. A newly hatched nymph has a blueish-white prothorax and legs. Later instar
s are grayish-black with white markings and the last nymphal stage is similar to the adult and exhibits short wing pads. The whole life cycle lasts for one to three years depending on the climatic conditions. The adults and later instar nymphs spend the winter underground at a depth of about a metre.
and other parts of the former USSR, China
, Japan
, India
, Indonesia
, Australia
, the Philippines
,Hawaii
, and some of North America
s and insectivorous mammals
, its natural enemies include ant
s which feed on the eggs, beetle
s which eat the larvae, nematode
s and mite
s. Fungal diseases may be devastating during winters with sudden rises of temperature and thaws.
crops have been attacked by this cricket and its tunneling activities have caused damage to the banks of irrigation ditches. In Asia, the cricket gnaws roots and tubers and causes damage to wheat
, barley
, oats
, rice
, maize
, beans, vegetable
crops, potato
es and sugar beet
. Measures to control the pest include deep ploughing, trapping, soil fumigation, poison baits and the application of insecticides. In Australia there are a number of host plants and damage is sometimes done to rice
crops in raised nursery beds or in upland conditions. In wetland rice, the crickets can be seen swimming between plants.
is a genus of wasps in the family Crabronidae
the members of which are parasitoid
s of mole crickets. After several unsuccessful attempts to introduce these wasps to Hawaii, in 1925, Larra polita from the Philippines was successfully introduced and succeeded in establishing itself. There has been little comment since 1930 on the damage being done by the oriental mole cricket in Hawaii and there is speculation that this may be due to the presence of these wasps.
Mole cricket
The mole crickets compose family Gryllotalpidae, of thick-bodied insects about long, with large beady eyes and shovel-like forelimbs highly developed for burrowing and swimming. They can also fly: the adult mole cricket may fly as far as during mating season, is active most of the year, and...
in the family Gryllotalpidae, commonly known as the oriental mole cricket. It is found in much of Asia and also in Australasia. At one time this species was misidentified as G. africana and thought to have a widespread distribution in both Africa and Asia but in the 1980s, G. orientalis was recognised as a separate species. It is a polyphagous pest, damaging crops by gnawing their roots.
Morphology and biology
This mole cricket is plump, yellowish-brown, paler beneath and about thirty millimetres long. It has short filiform antennaAntenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
e, forelegs designed for digging and a large oblong pronotum. The wings project slightly from beneath the forewings. After mating underground, the female builds a nesting chamber deep in the soil and lays about two hundred oval eggs which hatch after ten days. The nymphs
Nymph (biology)
In biology, a nymph is the immature form of some invertebrates, particularly insects, which undergoes gradual metamorphosis before reaching its adult stage. Unlike a typical larva, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult. In addition, while a nymph moults it never enters a...
remain in their nest for the first two or three weeks, guarded by the female. A newly hatched nymph has a blueish-white prothorax and legs. Later instar
Instar
An instar is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each molt , until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or assume a new form. Differences between instars can often be seen in altered body proportions, colors, patterns, or...
s are grayish-black with white markings and the last nymphal stage is similar to the adult and exhibits short wing pads. The whole life cycle lasts for one to three years depending on the climatic conditions. The adults and later instar nymphs spend the winter underground at a depth of about a metre.
Distribution
The oriental mole cricket is found in RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and other parts of the former USSR, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
,Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, and some of North America
Ecology
The oriental mole cricket lives underground in damp soil, digging a network of passages. Its natural habitat include damp rich soils such as flood plains and the banks of streams and ponds as well as arable land and gardens. The burrow has vertical and horizontal passages and may be complex in structure, with different parts being used for different purposes. The cricket feeds on the roots of plants, tubers and rhizomes and also on insects, earthworms and other invertebrates. It come to the surface and takes flight in the evenings and at night and is attracted to light sources. A mass emergence after wintering may take place when the temperature rises to 12-15°C. Besides birdBird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and insectivorous mammals
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
, its natural enemies include ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s which feed on the eggs, beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s which eat the larvae, nematode
Nematode
The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...
s and mite
Mite
Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...
s. Fungal diseases may be devastating during winters with sudden rises of temperature and thaws.
Economic significance
In Hawaii, sugarcaneSugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
crops have been attacked by this cricket and its tunneling activities have caused damage to the banks of irrigation ditches. In Asia, the cricket gnaws roots and tubers and causes damage to wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
, oats
OATS
OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
, rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, beans, vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
crops, potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es and sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
. Measures to control the pest include deep ploughing, trapping, soil fumigation, poison baits and the application of insecticides. In Australia there are a number of host plants and damage is sometimes done to rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
crops in raised nursery beds or in upland conditions. In wetland rice, the crickets can be seen swimming between plants.
Biological control in Hawaii
LarraLarra (genus)
Wasps in the genus Larra are parasitoids which prey upon varying species of mole crickets. Found worldwide in the tropics, they have gained prominence as integrated pest management agents.-Life cycle:Larra wasps feed on nectar as adults...
is a genus of wasps in the family Crabronidae
Crabronidae
Crabronidae is a large family of wasps, that includes nearly all of the species formerly comprising the now-defunct superfamily Sphecoidea. It collectively includes well over 200 genera, containing well over 9000 species. Crabronids were originally a part of Sphecidae, but the latter name is now...
the members of which are parasitoid
Parasitoid
A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host organism in a relationship that is in essence parasitic; unlike a true parasite, however, it ultimately sterilises or kills, and sometimes consumes, the host...
s of mole crickets. After several unsuccessful attempts to introduce these wasps to Hawaii, in 1925, Larra polita from the Philippines was successfully introduced and succeeded in establishing itself. There has been little comment since 1930 on the damage being done by the oriental mole cricket in Hawaii and there is speculation that this may be due to the presence of these wasps.