Mormon cricket invasion spreads here

This female Mormon cricket highlights the insect's very long antennae and sword-like ovipositor organ that's used to lay eggs into the soil. (Photo by Brad Stokes)

With voracious Mormon crickets already invading north-central Oregon and northern Elmore County, the head of the University of Idaho's extension office in Mountain Home offered some tips to help local farmers and backyard gardeners protect their property from these pests.

"Mormon crickets can be a devastating pest to the agricultural industry as well as the general public, especially when population numbers are extraordinarily high," said Brad Stokes, who has a background in entomology, or the study of insects.

Over the years, entomologists have tried to predict Mormon cricket "outbreaks" with a number of weather variables as well as others and have yet to develop a suitable accurate model with mixed results, according to Stokes.

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