Mole Crickets in Your Lawn – How to Identify & Treat Them

If your lawn feels soft and spongy underfoot or looks like it’s been tunneled by tiny underground diggers, you might be dealing with mole crickets — one of Florida’s most damaging lawn pests.

How to Identify Mole Cricket Activity

Tunneling: You’ll notice raised, winding tunnels across the soil surface, especially in moist or sandy areas.
Thinning Grass: Patches of your lawn start to thin or yellow, particularly in spring and fall when mole crickets are most active.
Night Movement: These pests are nocturnal and burrow just below the surface, feeding on grass roots and shoots at night.
Soft Spots: The ground may feel loose or sponge-like from their tunneling activity.

A quick test — mix a few tablespoons of dish soap in a gallon of water and pour it over a small patch of lawn. If mole crickets are present, they’ll crawl to the surface within a few minutes.

How Westfall’s Treats Mole Crickets

At Westfall’s Lawn & Pest, we use a targeted control approach to eliminate mole crickets while protecting your lawn’s health:

Professional Inspection: We inspect your lawn for tunneling patterns and soil disruption to confirm mole cricket activity.
Targeted Insect Treatments: Our technicians apply specialized insect control products that reach below the surface where mole crickets live and feed.
Timing for Best Results: Treatments are most effective when mole crickets are young (nymph stage) — typically during spring and fall in Manatee and Sarasota counties.
Lawn Recovery Support: We’ll recommend fertilization and watering adjustments to help your lawn recover quickly after damage.

Protect Your Lawn Year-Round

Preventing mole cricket damage is much easier than repairing it. Westfall’s provides seasonal monitoring and preventative treatments to stop infestations before they start.

If you suspect mole crickets are digging into your lawn, contact Westfall’s Lawn & Pest — we’ll identify the problem and restore your lawn’s health fast.