Crickets flood Idaho road as the insects descend on neighboring Nevada

Countless Mormon crickets flooded an Idaho roadway as millions of the insects descend on neighboring Nevada on June 5. 

Lisa Van Horne released footage showing the crickets covering the road she drives along. She said the video was taken a few miles outside the ghost town Silver City in Owyhee County. 

“I think I may have killed a few,” she wrote on Facebook.

According to local media, six counties in Nevada have been plagued with crickets described as “flightless, ground-dwelling insects,” according to the University of Nevada.

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“In large numbers, their feeding can contribute to soil erosion, poor water quality, nutrient depleted soils, and potentially cause damage to range and cropland ecosystems,” the university said, explaining that the insects “are not true crickets; they are shield-backed, short-winged katydids that resemble fat grasshoppers that cannot fly.”

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) has a Mormon Cricket and Grasshopper Control Program designed to help the control and mitigate the insects. 

“This program is managed by the ISDA Invasive Species program, however, grasshoppers and Mormon crickets are native species in Idaho,” the ISDA said.

Storyful contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.