Mole crickets are able to produce up to 10 clutches of eggs with over 450 eggs in each clutch. Each female lays between 100 and 200 eggs into a chamber within the soil. Eggs are laid in early spring with hatching following shortly afterwards. It has a long, multi-segmented body and is dark brown in colour with a silky sheen its underside has a much paler, yellow colour.ДЄdults and older nymphs over-winter in the soil. This pest burrows in soil and so its front legs are adapted to give it extra strength. Unlike typical crickets, it does not feature the elongated hind legs of most species.

The Mole Cricket is a large insect that will typically reach 40-50mm in length during adulthood. doi: 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2016.05.017.Species category: Crickets and Grasshoppers 'Cost effectiveness of biological control of invasive mole crickets in Florida pastures'. 'The introduction, establishment and spread of Ormia depleta in Florida'. 'Fecundity of Larra bicolor (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) and its implications in parasitoid: host interaction with mole crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae: Scapteriscus)'. (ed.) Advances in Parasitic Hymenoptera Research. (1988) Biology of the mole cricket parasitoid Larra bicolor (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) pp. 'Permanent control of pest mole crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae: Scapteriscus) in Florida' (PDF). Reproductive strategy of Pheropsophus aequinoctialis L.: fecundity, fertility, and oviposition behavior and influence of mole cricket egg chamber depth on larval survival ( PDF) ( M.S. 'Shortwinged mole cricket, Southern mole cricket, Tawny mole cricket'. 'New mole crickets of the genus Scapteriscus Scudder from Colombia (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae Scapteriscinae)' (PDF). 'The phylogeny of mole crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpoidea: Gryllotalpidae)'. Orthoptera Species File (Version 5.0/5.0). ^ a b 'Species Neoscapteriscus vicinus (Scudder, 1869)'.This did not take into account the benefit to turf grass (lawns, playing fields, and golf courses), to vegetable production, or to any areas outside Florida. A cost/benefit ratio of 1/52 was calculated.

Part of the balance sheet (input) was salaries and equipment and supplies, and part (output) was reduction in damage by mole crickets to cattle pastures determined by a survey of ranchers throughout Florida. In 2016, a graduate student in economics and her committee published an economic analysis of the entire 25-year biological control program. The mole cricket nematode ( Steinernema scapterisci) liberates a bacterium which causes sepsis and death to its host mole cricket. The fly Ormia depleta acts in a similar manner, laying eggs on them in both cases, the developing larvae devour the tissues of the host. Larra bicolor is a parasitoid wasp which deposits eggs on adult mole crickets. In 2006, a summary publication announced success: a 95% reduction in mole cricket numbers in northern Florida, with biological control agents spreading potentially to all parts of Florida. It was considered to have been achieved by 2004, when the program at the University of Florida was shut down. In an attempt to reduce the damage done by Neocapteriscus mole crickets in Florida, biological pest control has been attempted using natural enemies introduced from South America. The nymphs take several months to develop fully, passing through eight to 10 moults. After copulation, the female lays between 25 and 60 eggs in an underground chamber, the entrance to which is then blocked with soil. Breeding takes place in spring and autumn, with the male calling soon after sunset to attract a female. vicinus is herbivorous and feeds on the roots and young shoots of plants, and also causes damage to plants through its burrowing activities. In Florida, the adults are active in spring and again in autumn, completing a single lifecycle during the summer and overwintering as a large nymph. The tawny mole cricket burrows in sandy soil, creating galleries, usually in the upper 25В cm (10В in), the depth depending on the temperature and soil moisture content. Though thought of primarily as a pest of turf and grassland, it also damages many crop plants, including tomatoes, strawberries, vegetables, peanuts, sugarcane, tobacco, and ornamental plants.

Since arriving in the United States, it has increased its range, which now extends from North Carolina to Louisiana and the whole of Florida, and west to Texas. The song of N.vicinus, produced only by the males, is a loud trill with a frequency of 130 Hz. It can be differentiated from the rather similar Neoscapteriscus borellii by the two claws that are almost touching at the base, whereas in N. Its colour is yellowish-brown with a dark prothorax. Other mole crickets have three or four claws. Members of this genus are characterized by having two sharp claws and a blade-like process with a sharp edge on their fore legs.