Crickets

Crickets are fat, brown insects, 2 to 5 cm long. The front legs of the mole cricket are broad and curved adapted for digging. Many crickets live in burrows in the soil. Adults and nymphs of the tobacco cricket (Brachytrupes membranaceus) and the African mole cricket (Gryllotalpa Africana) are nursery pests. They cut seedlings and drag them into underground burrows, or left them on the surface wilting for a few days before taken them into the burrow.

The tobacco cricket may be a sporadic pest, particularly on light sandy soils where the adult crickets can easily burrow. The African mole cricket can be a pest especially at low altitudes, and particularly in moist soil.