Ant cricket

Systematic position: The ant cricket (Myrmecophilus acervorum) belongs to the order Orthoptera and the family Myrmecophilidae. These are tiny, wingless, hump-backed insects that are highly specialized for living inside the nests of various ant species.

Biology and life cycle: This species is an obligate myrmecophile. It lives exclusively within ant colonies, surviving by mimicking the chemical signals of the ants or simply moving too quickly for the ants to react. The life cycle involves gradual metamorphosis, with all stages taking place protected inside the moist environment of the subterranean ant nest.

Nature of damage and harmfulness: The ant cricket itself does not feed on vegetation. However, it is considered a garden inhabitant that supports the stability of ant colonies. Since ants are notorious for farming aphids and scale insects, the presence of these crickets helps maintain high populations of ant-tended pests, which indirectly causes significant damage to plant health.

Which crops it «damages»: It does not consume leaves or stems. The damage is indirect and affects nearly all plants susceptible to aphids, such as fruit trees, ornamental shrubs, and vegetable crops. The presence of these crickets signals a robust ant presence, which is a major risk factor for pest outbreaks on your horticultural crops.

Protection measures: Management strategies focus on controlling the ant populations that host the crickets. Recommended practices include:

• Applying sticky traps or bands to tree trunks to block ant access to the foliage.
• Using bait stations with boric acid to reduce ant colony numbers in the soil.
• Frequent cultivation of the soil around plants to disturb the tunnels of ant nests.
• Biological control through introducing natural enemies of aphids to reduce the attractiveness of the area to ants.