Bulletin No.
295
Document Type
Bulletin
Department
Entomology-Zoology Department
Description
The common black field cricket, Gryllus assimilis (Fabr.)* is not only a serious insect pest of certain field and garden crops in South Dakota, but in addition it is an important household pest because of the damage it does to fabrics such as wearing apparel, curtains, bedding, etc. While this species of cricket is omnivorous, the greater portion of its diet consists of vegetable matter. Many of our field and garden crops may be injured through the feeding activities of this cricket, but usually the damage done is most severe in alfalfa fields devoted to seed production. It is the purpose of this bulletin to discuss the economic importance and distribution of the common black field cricket in South Dakota, to consider its systematic status, to discuss the life history and seasonal histories of the cricket, to describe briefly the various stages through which the insect passes in completing its life cycle, to discuss the behavior or habits of the immature and adult crickets, to present an account of the damage done, and last, to present facts regarding control and repression of the insect through natural enemies and through methods worked out by the writer during the course of this investigation.
Keywords
common black field cricket, gryllus assimilis
Pages
51
Publication Date
12-1935
Type
text
Format
application/pdf
Language
en
Publisher
South Dakota Experiment Station, South Dakota State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts
Recommended Citation
Severin, H.C., "The Common Black Field Cricket: A Serious Pest in South Dakota" (1935). Research Bulletins of the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station (1887-2011). 295.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/agexperimentsta_bulletins/295