THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507160060
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FAYETTEVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Insect experts at North Carolina State University are predicting an invasion, of sorts, by an inch-long critter that threatens the state's prettiest lawns, lushest golf courses and busiest sod farms.
The villain is the South American mole cricket.
``There's no doubt in my mind they will continue to spread,'' said Rick Brandenburg, insect specialist at N.C. State. ``I hate to be a bearer of bad news but we look at the Pinehurst area, the Fayetteville area, Sanford, they are probably going to see their problems increase.''
Problems include fairways chewed to the dirt and crew-cut-shaved greens scarred by dirt mounds. Scientists predict the munching menace will chew its way across the state.
Mole crickets are more damaging than fire ants, and just as nasty as any multi-legged threat that has come to the state.
The pests came to the United States on cargo ships to Brunswick County, Ga., around 1900. They lived in sod that had been piled into the bottom of ships to make them float better. The sod was dumped on American soil, where the crickets have no natural enemies.
The critters moved here in the 1960s when the Southern species appeared. Its meaner cousin, the Tawny species, arrived in 1987 and turned out to be a bigger eater.
Most of the damage in North Carolina has been on the golf courses along the coast, between Wilmington and Calabash, Brandenburg said.
The crickets burrow under the grass, and leave a tunnel like a miniature mole. They gnaw through the roots and kill the grass.
The insects love the area's sandy soil because it's easy to dig. Their favorite food is Bermuda grass roots, but any warm-season grass will do.
Three species now call North Carolina home. Brandenburg fears the crickets will be a problem by the time the U.S. Women's Open arrives in 1996 at Pine Needles golf resort and the U.S. Men's Open comes to Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in 1999. The tournaments are expected to bring an estimated $235 million to the state.
Pinehurst isn't worried - so far.
``As far as it being an infestation or the catastrophic insect invasion that we've heard about, it's nothing like that,'' said Bob Farren, assistant superintendent at Pinehurst's seven courses.
His staff of 150 full-time groundskeepers noticed the tiny crickets about five years ago. The few that Farren's staff has seen were wiped out by insecticides or stomped under boots heels. by CNB