Crickets invaded an Idaho highway — so officials brought in a plow, video shows
Masses of insects took over an Idaho highway — but officials had a solution.
Thousands of Mormon crickets were clumping around Idaho 51 last week, according to the state’s Transportation Department. There were so many Mormon crickets, officials brought in a plow to clear them.
“Mormon crickets are taking over the road this season,” ITD said on Twitter. “Watch out for slick spots.”
Some people on social media were repulsed by the video.
“Oh hell no,” one person said on Twitter. “Not going to Idaho.”
Others thought using the plow was a creative solution.
“Good to see the plows used in the summer,” another person said.
Mormon crickets aren’t really crickets at all, according to a fact sheet from Ada County officials. The insect is a shieldbacked katydid, not a cricket.
Its population stretches through most of the northwestern U.S., including in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and parts of several other states. The species is native to Idaho and has been swarming the Southwest Idaho desert, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting.
Some Idaho residents called the Mormon crickets “a plague.”
Paul Castrovillo, an entomologist with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, previously told the Idaho Statesman that people notice the bugs when they create a slick surface when they’re crushed by a car.
“They go through cycles,” Castrovillo told the Statesman. “They might go for two, three, five years where people hardly notice them at all. They’re out there in lower numbers, mostly out in the range area. ... People notice them when they start to cross highways in big numbers or crawl all over buildings.”
Idaho isn’t the only state to have noticed the bugs. Other western states have noticed an increase in Mormon crickets as conditions have become just right.
Drought and warming temperatures have worsened the outbreak of Mormon crickets, according to CBS News. Some states have introduced legislation for a “suppression” program, the news outlet reported.
This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 9:59 AM.