Description:
The European mole cricket, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa , feeds on a wide range of crops and can also damage plants with its burrowing activities. In suitable habitats (like those with damp, rich soils in flood plains), G. gryllotalpa numbers can increase to high levels. Using habitat suitability modelling, we identified areas suitable for G. gryllotalpa occurrence based on previous reports of its occurrence and based on environmental data. We limited our study area to regions where G. gryllotalpa is the only known Gryllotalpa species. The most important variables in our models were found to be relative air humidity and minimum soil temperature of the coldest month. We suggest that soil temperature is a limiting factor for the pest’s occurrence in the Czech Republic because most areas in the country experience soil temperatures just below 0°C, while most reports of G. gryllotalpa occurrence in Europe are from areas where the soil temperature does not drop below 0°C. We recognize that minimizing the damage caused by G. gryllotalpa to young forest plattaion and home gardens is extremely difficult. However, the models we developed can provide information on possible risks and thereby improve the pest management decision making process