The damage potential of the black field cricketTeleogryllus commodus

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Abstract
Regressions of herbage loss on population density of black field cricket (Teleogryllus commodus Walker) (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) were obtained by caging different life stages at a range of densities over ryegrass (Lolium perenne)–white clover (Trifolium repenss–dominant pasture. Significant (P2, which was regarded as low, was estimated to cause pasture loss of 1.8 kg. ha–1 .d–1 of dry matter (DM), a grazing pressure equivalent to 1.5 ewes per hectare per day. A field population of 60 adult cricket per m2, which is regarded as high, was estimated to cause pasture loss of 25.1 kg. ha–1.d–1 of DM (equivalent to 21 ewes per hectare per day) and the same population over all stages throughout one summer, a total seasonal pasture loss of 2920 kg. ha–1 of DM. These results show that black field crickets cause considerable pasture losses at all developmental stages, and should be controlled as early as possible each year to reduce pasture loss and damage.