Nevada town hit by ‘biblical’ invasion of cannibal Mormon crickets

A small Nevada town is being terrorized by a “biblical” plague of cannibalistic Mormon crickets that have covered roads, invaded buildings and alarmed residents.

The five-inch-long pests that have taken over Elko, Nevada, not only devour all crops, but are also a hazard to traffic, making roads dangerously slippery after millions of crickets are crushed by cars, their guts creating a slippery surface.

Residents also have to deal with the multitude of insects that cover the ground, crawl up walls and infest buildings.

Despite their name, the insects are technically large katydids that closely resemble grasshoppers, according to the University of Nevada, Reno. They do not fly, but walk or jump. And while totally harmless to humans, the critters are nonetheless terrifying to local residents who suffer from insect phobias.

Skin-crawling footage shared on social media shows the city under attack, along with several other Nevada counties, as the swarm of bugs sweeps across the state

Skin-crawling footage shared on social media shows the city under attack, along with several other Nevada counties, as the swarm of bugs sweep through the state.

“When we looked out here, the whole wall was just covered. That really scared me,” resident Colette Reynolds shared CLASS.

A spokesperson for Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital told KSL that the hospital had to use brooms and leaf blowers to clear the way for patients to enter the building.

The Nevada Department of Transportation has been plowing and sanding roads to get rid of the squashed bugs that have made the roads slippery.

“You can see them moving and crawling and crawling all the way and it just gives you goosebumps. It’s just so gross,” Stephanie Garrett added.

Residents also have to deal with the multitude of insects that cover the ground, crawl up walls and infest buildings

The two-inch-long pests that have taken over Elko, Nevada are also devouring all crops

The pest-like footage also shows just how dangerous the roads are now with the added layer of squashed bugs

The pest-like footage also shows just how dangerous the roads are now with the added layer of squashed bugs.

“They get run over, two or three come out and eat their mate, and they get run over, and the roads can get covered in crickets and they can get slippery,” Jeff Knight, an entomologist for the Nevada Department of Agriculture, told KSL.

“The bigger problem is the thunderstorms this afternoon and put some water on that and it gets slippery. We’ve had some accidents caused by crickets.”

Knight has been treating Nevada farmland for Mormon crickets since 1976 and has experienced about 40 outbreaks in that time.

“The gang of crickets in Elko [Nevada] is probably a thousand acres, and we’ve had bands even bigger,” he said.

‘The drought probably pushed them to hatch. Once they do, they have the upper hand, so their populations increase for a number of years and then fall again.”

Mormon crickets are named after swarms of insects that devastated the fields of Mormon settlers in Utah in the mid-1800s

The Nevada Department of Transportation has been plowing and sanding roads to remove the squashed bugs that have made the roads slippery

The swarms that move through Nevada can take four to six years to be brought under control by other insects and predators

Knight added that the insects lay their eggs in the summer, which are dormant in the winter and hatch in the spring. But the youngsters were delayed because of the unusually rainy winter, he said.

The swarms that sweep through Nevada can take four to six years to be brought under control by other insects and predators, Knight told the Guardian.

‘[Population density] is what prompts them to say, “There are too many of us here, we need to get moving.”

Mormon cricket infestations aren’t new to the western United States, and there’s not much residents can do except wait and see, entomologists said.

Around this time last year, Oregon also battled huge swarms of Mormon crickets and locusts.

Despite its name, the Mormon cricket (pictured) is actually a shield-backed katydid, not a cricket. It takes its name from Mormon settlers in Utah, who encountered them as they pushed westward, and for the prominent role they play in the marvel of the seagulls

Not only do the insects feast on crops, but they are also cannibals and will eat each other, dead or alive, if they are not saturated with protein.

The area was ravaged by drought, which created ideal conditions for locusts and Mormon cricket eggs to hatch.

Mormon crickets are named after swarms of insects that devastated the fields of Mormon settlers in Utah in the mid-1800s.

They have continued to wreak havoc on corn, oats, wheat, rye and barley, some of the state’s most profitable crops, according to Utah State University.