Mole Crickets in New Orleans Lawns: Damage Signs and When to Treat
- LSU AgCenter lists three mole cricket species in Louisiana: northern, tawny and southern.
- They tunnel below the soil surface, breaking up turf and drying out roots, and some species also feed on leaves and roots.
- LSU says injury typically shows up in mid-to-late summer and again from late winter to early spring.
- A soapy-water flush brings them to the surface so you can confirm them before treating.
- Texas A&M AgriLife recommends scouting and treating while nymphs are small, from May through July.
The lawn feels spongy underfoot in one area, and there are little ridges of loose soil running through it, like something has been tunneling just under the surface. The grass on top is thinning and drying out even though it’s been raining. That pattern points to mole crickets, a soil insect that damages turf by digging through it rather than eating the blades.
At TurnKey Lawn Care, mole cricket treatment is part of the lawn pest work we do across the metro. If you’re seeing tunnels and raised soil, request a free estimate and we’ll confirm what’s in the soil before recommending anything.
This guide covers how to identify mole crickets and their damage, how to confirm them with a simple test, the timing that makes treatment effective, and how to help the lawn recover. It also covers how common they really are here, because they’re often blamed for damage other problems cause.
How to identify mole crickets
The LSU AgCenter home lawn series describes mole crickets as having golden-brown, hardened bodies with large, flattened, oval-shaped heads and black, beady eyes. Their front legs are claw-like and built for digging. Adults are larger and have wings, while the young, called nymphs, are wingless. LSU notes that both nymphs and adults usually live in the soil and are active at night. That nighttime habit is why most homeowners never see one. You find the damage first, and the insect only turns up when you go looking for it. LSU lists three species in Louisiana:
- The northern mole cricket
- The tawny mole cricket
- The southern mole cricket
Texas A&M AgriLife identifies the tawny and southern species as the ones that cause extensive surface tunnels in lawns. For a homeowner, the species rarely changes the plan. The tunneling damage and the timing are what matter.
What mole cricket damage looks like
LSU explains that mole crickets burrow below the soil surface, breaking up plants and causing roots to dry out, which eventually kills the turf. Some species also feed on leaves and roots. LSU describes injured turf as broken-up pieces of grass with mounds of soil. Texas A&M AgriLife adds that the tunnels uproot and dry out turfgrass and can affect how evenly the lawn mows. Signs to look for in the lawn:
- Narrow, raised ridges of loose soil running just under the surface
- Turf that feels soft or spongy when you walk across it
- Grass that lifts easily and looks dry even after rain
- Small mounds of soil pushed up through the grass
- Uneven mowing where the mower dips into loosened areas
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When damage shows up
LSU says mole cricket injury typically occurs in mid-to-late summer and again from late winter to early spring. Those two windows line up with the insect’s life cycle. Texas A&M AgriLife describes adults mating during dispersal flights just after sunset in spring. Females then lay eggs, and the nymphs that hatch develop through six to eight stages over the season, with one generation per year. The practical result is a calendar with two different jobs in it:
| Period | What mole crickets are doing | What that means for the lawn |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Adults fly, mate and lay eggs | Adult tunneling can show as late winter and early spring damage |
| May through July | Eggs hatch and small nymphs begin feeding | The best window to treat, while nymphs are small |
| Mid-to-late summer | Nymphs are larger and tunnel more | Damage becomes visible and harder to control |
| Fall and winter | Larger nymphs and adults remain in the soil | Repair and plan next year’s timing |
Confirm them before you treat
Tunnels and soft turf can have other causes, including grubs, armadillos and simple drought. The soap flush takes a few minutes and tells you whether mole crickets are actually present.
- Mix the solution. LSU and Texas A&M both describe 1 tablespoon of lemon-scented dish soap in 1 gallon of water.
- Pour at the edge of the damage. Slowly pour it onto healthy grass beside the injured area rather than into the middle of the damage.
- Match the area to conditions. LSU recommends drenching about 1 square foot in wet conditions and about 4 square feet in dry conditions.
- Watch for five to ten minutes. Texas A&M notes the soap irritates the nymphs and flushes them to the surface for counting.
- Check a few spots. Test more than one area, since mole crickets tend to be patchy rather than spread evenly.
If nothing comes up, look at the other causes before spending money on insecticide. Our guide to grub and lawn pest control covers the tug test for grubs and other checks.
Mole crickets or something else
Several problems leave a lawn soft, torn up or thin, and they call for different fixes. Before treating, it helps to compare what you’re seeing against the usual suspects:
| Cause | What the damage looks like | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| Mole crickets | Raised tunnels and soft, spongy turf with mounds of soil | Soapy-water flush at the edge of the damage |
| White grubs | Turf that lifts like a loose rug because roots are eaten | Tug test and look for C-shaped larvae in the soil |
| Digging animals | Holes and overturned patches of sod, often overnight | Look for fresh holes rather than tunnels |
| Drought stress | Wilted, dull grass across a sunny area, no tunnels | Water deeply and look again in a few days |
Animals digging in a lawn are often looking for insects underneath, so torn-up turf can be a sign of grubs or mole crickets rather than a separate problem. A flush test and a tug test at the edge of the damage usually settle which one you’re dealing with. It’s also common to find more than one issue at once. A lawn weakened by summer drought is less able to recover from tunneling, which is one more reason to fix watering and mowing alongside any treatment.
When to treat for mole crickets
Texas A&M AgriLife stresses scouting and treating for tawny and southern mole crickets while nymphs are still small, from May through July. It notes that damage from later stages is difficult to manage. LSU’s guidance is to treat with insecticide when mole cricket injury is excessive. A separate LSU AgCenter Q&A on mole cricket control discusses the first week of June as an appropriate time for treatment aimed at preventing lawn damage. Put together, the approach for a New Orleans lawn is to flush-test in late spring and early summer, and treat in that early summer window if the test confirms them. Waiting until the tunnels are obvious in August means dealing with larger, harder-to-control nymphs. Insecticide choice, rate and watering-in all come from the product label, which has to be followed exactly. We handle this as part of our lawn pest work, alongside the checks that rule out look-alike problems.
How common are mole crickets here
It’s worth keeping mole crickets in perspective. In that same LSU AgCenter Q&A, consumer horticulture specialist Dan Gill says he has never seen major outbreaks of mole crickets in his experience and that insects like chinch bugs are far more common. That matches the practical approach we take. Mole crickets are real and can do damage, but they shouldn’t be the automatic explanation for every soft or thinning patch. Our post on chinch bug damage in St. Augustine covers the far more common summer culprit. If you’re weighing a preventive treatment every year without confirmed mole crickets, the flush test is the better first step. It costs a bottle of dish soap and ten minutes, and it tells you whether a treatment is worth paying for.
Helping the lawn recover
Once mole crickets are controlled, the damaged areas need help to root back down. LSU notes that tunneling causes roots to dry out, so the first job is getting soil and roots back in contact.
- Press down raised tunnels by rolling lightly or walking the area when the soil is moist
- Water deeply in the morning so the loosened soil settles around the roots
- Mow at the correct height for your grass so the turf carries enough leaf to regrow
- Fill larger damaged areas with plugs or sod once the insects are under control
- Recheck with a flush test the following spring, since there is one generation per year
Our page on why lawns get brown patches is useful if the area doesn’t recover the way you’d expect, since more than one problem can be at work in the same spot.
Frequently asked questions
Are mole crickets difficult to get rid of?
They’re much easier to control when nymphs are small. Texas A&M AgriLife recommends scouting and treating from May through July, and notes that damage from later stages is difficult to manage, so timing matters more than product choice.
Does Dawn dish soap kill mole crickets?
The soapy water flush is a detection method. LSU AgCenter and Texas A&M AgriLife both use 1 tablespoon of lemon-scented dish soap in 1 gallon of water to bring mole crickets to the surface so you can count them, and confirmed infestations then need a labeled insecticide.
What will kill mole crickets?
An insecticide labeled for mole crickets, applied while nymphs are small and used exactly as the label directs. LSU AgCenter recommends treating when injury is excessive, and Texas A&M AgriLife points to May through July as the most effective window.
What time of year do mole crickets come out?
Adults fly and mate in spring, and eggs hatch into nymphs that feed through summer. LSU AgCenter says damage typically shows in mid-to-late summer and again from late winter to early spring.
Will mole crickets come back next year?
They can, because there is one generation per year and adults fly in spring to mate and lay eggs. A flush test in late spring each year shows whether a new generation has moved in before the damage becomes visible.
Get the tunnels checked
Tell us where the soft, tunneled areas are and when you first noticed them. We’ll run a flush test, confirm what’s causing it and give you a free estimate before any work starts. If it isn’t mole crickets, you’ll hear that too, along with what we think is actually causing the damage.
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