Howard Frank UF/IFAS Mole Cricket Research Program Entomology

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IPM OF MOLE CRICKETS WITH A COMBINATION OF
NATURAL ENEMIES
Howard Frank
UF/IFAS Mole Cricket Research Program
Entomology
Nematology Department University of Florida
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why doesnt the northern mole cricket
trash turf throughout the
eastern USA?
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at least in part because it is
attacked by a specialist native wasp, Larra
analis
and a specialist native nematode, Steinernema
neocurtillae.
UF/Choate
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So, turf managers in the eastern USA
dont have to worry about the northern mole
cricket - which is native to the USA.
But in Brazil, where the northern mole cricket is
NOT native, it has been claimed to cause damage.
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Native insects may have specialist natural
enemies (such as wasps and nematodes) that
control them free!
But when insects arrive from abroad, they may
become pests because their native natural enemies
were left behind in their homeland.
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IPM strategies generally rely first upon
biological defenses before chemically altering
the environment. part of President Carters
1979 Environmental Message
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damage by pest (South American) mole crickets to
a Florida golf course
J.P. Parkman/UF
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Ever since the tawny, southern, and shortwinged
mole crickets arrived from South America (100
years ago), turf managers have relied primarily
on chemical pesticides against them
So, what happened?
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What happened to the lesson just explained that
natural enemies can control them?
What happened to President Carters message that
IPM strategies generally rely first upon
biological defenses before chemically altering
the environment.
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The specialist natural enemies were not here in
Florida they were in South America and they
needed research.
The obvious answer was to bring them from South
America and research them. They might provide
free control of the pest mole crickets.
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Four biocontrol agents were brought to Florida
from South America by the UF/IFAS Mole Cricket
Research Program in the 1980s
1. a wasp Larra bicolor
2. a fly Ormia depleta
3. a beetle Pheropsophus aequinoctialis
4. a nematode Steinernema scapterisci
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The task since then has been to

1. test whether they are safe for release
   (and, if they are)

2. spread them throughout Florida
3. learn how to enhance their
populations locally where their services are
needed
Heres where we are now
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imported wasp Larra bicolor
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from Bolivia 1988
the wasp Larra bicolor
Present in at least the counties marked, and
spreading in northern counties
from Puerto Rico1981
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the wasp Larra bicolor
1. was introduced from Bolivia in the 1980s
2. was released in Alachua County

• 3. has spread to neighboring counties
• at least to Putnam, Clay, and Levy - maybe more

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Spermacoce verticillata (a wildflower) provides
nectar to the adult wasps
Spermacoce verticillata (a wildflower) provides
nectar to the adult wasps it and other
wildflowers perhaps can be used to enhance local
populations of the wasp like butterfly
gardening
UF/Choate
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imported fly Ormia depleta
UF/Castner
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(No Transcript)
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the fly Ormia depleta
1. was introduced from Brazil in the 1980s
2. was released in Alachua County and many
other counties
3. Now occupies 38 counties from Alachua
southward is not spreading northward
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larva of imported beetle Pheropsophus
aequinoctialis
with mole cricket eggs
UF/Castner
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the beetle Pheropsophus aequinoctialis
1. was brought to quarantine in Gainesville from
Uruguay and Brazil in the 1980s, then from
Bolivia in 1993
2. has not yet been released some entomology
graduate students have worked on it but we need
to be totally sure of its diet before a release
permit can be issued
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dead mole cricket with emerged Steinernema
scapterisci nematodes
UF/Nguyen
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the nematode Steinernema scapterisci
1. was introduced from Uruguay in 1985
2. was released in Alachua County in 1985, and
spread in that county
3. was mass-produced by industry on an artificial
diet, and sold as a biopesticide
4. experimental releases and commercial sales
spread it to many other counties
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The nematode differs from the wasp and the fly in
two ways
(1) it needs only mole crickets to survive (the
adult wasp and adult fly need energy from nectar
or honeydew)
(2) it can be mass-produced and sold as a
biopesticide (this is happening)
This does not mean the nematode is a better
biocontrol agent, just that it can be handled
like a pesticide
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The work has resulted in establishment of
populations of the wasp and the nematode in the
Gainesville area.
Those two biocontrol agents together have reduced
pest mole cricket numbers by about 95 in the
Gainesville area since the 1980s
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southern mole cricket, Gainesville
biocontrol period
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My vision is of the presence of good populations
of at least two species of these biocontrol
agents everywhere in Florida to provide statewide
biocontrol
At that point, heavy mole cricket damage will be
a thing of the past
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Pesticides (either chemical or biological) will
be used against mole crickets just on golf
course tees and greens.
People will plant selected wildflowers to
encourage local populations of the wasp and the
fly.
And control costs will be FAR less than at
present.
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It is important to remember that all four
biocontrol agents are expected to contribute to
permanent biocontrol of pest mole crickets
And they dont harm non-target organisms not
even the northern mole cricket
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About 80 of the support for the UF/IFAS Mole
Cricket Research Program came from UF/IFAS funds
earmarked in 1978-1991 by the Florida legislature
for this purpose, about 10 from the Federal
government, and 10 (before 1992) from the turf
industry.
The research job is far from finished. It could
be speeded if the research were better funded by
the turf industry.