Can Mole Crickets Fly?
Many adult mole crickets can fly, including southern and tawny mole crickets, but not every species can. The shortwinged mole cricket has reduced wings and is flightless. Winged species usually spend most of their time on or below the ground, then fly on suitable warm evenings to disperse, locate mates, or reach calling sites.
Which Mole Crickets Can Fly?
Southern mole crickets, Neoscapteriscus borellii, have hind wings that extend beyond the abdomen and can support flight. Tawny mole crickets, Neoscapteriscus vicinus, are also capable fliers. Both are invasive turf pests in parts of the southeastern United States.
The UF southern mole cricket profile describes the broad hind wings extending past the abdomen. An adult with intact long hind wings has the equipment for flight even if you first see it digging.
Which Mole Cricket Cannot Fly?
The shortwinged mole cricket, Neoscapteriscus abbreviatus, cannot fly. Its name points to the reduced wings. The UF shortwinged profile records adults at about 22 to 29 millimeters and specifically identifies them as flightless.
It still spreads by walking, burrowing, and accidental transport in soil, sod, nursery material, or equipment. Flightless does not mean immobile, and a local population can expand through connected suitable ground.
When Do Winged Mole Crickets Fly?
Large flights are most likely after sunset on warm spring evenings, although timing changes with species, latitude, weather, and life cycle. Adults may leave the soil and move toward areas where males are calling. Both sexes can be found in dispersal flights.
A UF/IFAS review reports substantial early-evening flights by southern and tawny mole crickets on warm spring days. That pattern is more specific than the vague claim that mole crickets fly all summer.
Why Do They Spend So Much Time Underground?
Mole crickets have broad, toothed front legs built for digging. Soil provides humidity, protection, and access to food. Some species feed heavily on roots and shoots; others take more insect prey. Their surface ridges and tunnels may be visible long before an adult appears.
Flight is a temporary transport mode, not the animal’s usual way of moving through habitat. Once a mole cricket lands, it can quickly dig and disappear from view.
Its front legs do not prevent flight. They are heavy digging tools, but the thorax also carries the flight muscles used by winged adults. The two forms of movement serve different jobs.
Can Nymphs Fly?
No. Nymphs resemble smaller adults but do not yet have fully developed wings. They move through soil and across the surface. Only the winged adult stage can make powered flights.
A small mole cricket near a porch light may be an adult of a small species, so size alone is not enough. Look for developed forewings, the length of the folded hind wings, and adult body proportions.
Why Are They at Lights?
Flying adults may be attracted to artificial light and land on pavement, walls, pools, or porches. A single arrival does not prove that the lawn beneath the fixture has an infestation. It may have flown from another property or a nearby field.
University of Missouri Extension notes that mole crickets are less attracted to lights than field and house crickets, not that they never appear there. Reduce unnecessary night lighting if repeated arrivals are a nuisance.
Does One Flying Mole Cricket Mean Turf Damage?
No. Confirm damage before treating. Relevant signs include fresh tunneling, loosened soil, uprooted seedlings, thinning turf, and multiple insects found through a validated sampling method. Drought, disease, grubs, billbugs, and poor irrigation can create similar brown areas.
Species matters because feeding habits and local pest status differ. A native northern mole cricket is not automatically the same management problem as an invasive tawny mole cricket in Florida.
Extension recommendations also depend on season. A control aimed at vulnerable young nymphs may make no sense after a flight of adults, so a fresh sighting still needs local timing guidance.
What Should You Do With One?
Photograph the top and side, include a ruler, and note the location and date. If an invasive species is suspected outside its known range, place the specimen in a secure container and contact a county Extension office or state agriculture department for instructions.
Do not move soil or sod from a suspected site until the identification is clear. For the wider habitat differences among cricket groups, see where crickets live.
