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ARS Home » Plains Area » Sidney, Montana » Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory » Pest Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #328657
Research Project: Ecology and Management of Grasshoppers and Other Rangeland and Crop Insects in the Great Plains

Location: Pest Management Research

Title: Mormon cricket, Anabrus simplex Haldeman, 1852 (Tettigoniidae)

Author
item Srygley, Robert
item Jaronski, Stefan

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/23/2019
Publication Date: 12/30/2019
Citation: Srygley R., Jaronski, S., 2019. Mormon cricket, Anabrus simplex Haldeman, 1852 (Tettigoniidae). In: Lecoq M., Zhang L., editors. Encyclopedia of Pest Orthoptera of the World. Beijing: China Agricultural University Press. p. 219-223.

Interpretive Summary: In this entry for the Encyclopedia of Plant Pests, we review characteristics to identify Mormon crickets and distinguish them from other Anabrus species. A figure illustrates male cerci of the four Anabrus species in the United States. We also illustrate their historical range in the US and Canada. We describe the damage that they cause to major crop hosts, including wheat and alfalfa but also 27 other vegetables and grains, and 400 rangeland plant species. We also review their reproductive biology, and their distinctive behavior of forming large aggregations and migrating directionally. Management is principally by chemical control, but control with fungal pathogens has shown some promise. Field monitoring and control programs are conducted by individual state departments of agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

Technical Abstract: In this entry for the Encyclopedia of Plant Pests, we review characteristics to identify Mormon crickets and distinguish them from other Anabrus species. A figure illustrates male cerci of the four Anabrus species in the United States. We also illustrate their historical range in the US and Canada. We describe the damage that they cause to major crop hosts, including wheat and alfalfa but also 27 other vegetables and grains, and 400 rangeland plant species. We also review their reproductive biology, and their distinctive behavior of forming large aggregations and migrating directionally. Management is principally by chemical control, but control with fungal pathogens has shown some promise. Field monitoring and control programs are conducted by individual state departments of agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).