To the Point
March of the Mormon Cricket
Armies of blood-red crickets -- two miles long and a mile across -- are about to march through northern Nevada, destroying crops, causing accidents on highways, even crawling into people's homes. The two-inch long, so-called “Mormon Crickets,” can't fly but are a fearsome sight when they're on the march by the millions.
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readArmies of blood-red crickets -- two miles long and a mile across -- are about to march through northern Nevada, destroying crops, causing accidents on highways, even crawling into people's homes. The two-inch long, so-called “Mormon Crickets,” can't fly but are a fearsome sight when they're on the march by the millions. One town has a novel method for fighting the infestation: turning up the volume of hard rock music.
Jeff Knight is the Nevada State Entomologist.
(Photo: Katie Madonia, taken in Nevada in 2006. Click to enlarge.)
