“It’s almost like a biblical plague,” Dana Dolan said, laughing at the absurdity of the situation that is playing out in Elko, where she's lived for 6 years. The ground surrounding Elko's stretch of Interstate 80 looked as if it had been covered in blood.
Outbreaks of Mormon crickets, which are native to the Great Basin and Intermountain West, have been recorded throughout history across the west — from Nevada and Montana to Idaho, Utah and Oregon. There are records of infestations dating to the 1930s, according to entomologist Knight.
“The settlers prayed for relief,” Knight said. “That came in the form of seagulls. Seagulls ate the crickets...That's also why they're the state bird of Utah." The Mormon cricket is not a true cricket but a shield-backed katydid. They are flightless but travel together in “bands” that can range in size from 5 acres acres to hundreds of acres, Knight said.The crickets hatched far later than their usual springtime birth, delayed by an especially wet spring and snow-packed winter in northern Nevada, Knight said.
In his nearly 40 years working for the Nevada Department of Agriculture — 32 of those as the state entomologist — Knight said he can recall four invasions. The infestation in the early 2000s “was most impressive in my mind, looking at the overall scope," he said.
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