Idaho road invaded by so many crickets that officials have to bring in plough to clear it

Infestations can cause serious economic losses for farmers

Thousands of crickets were ploughed off an Idaho highway this week after the insects invaded a major road in the southwest of the state.

Idaho’s transpotation department posted a video on Thursday showing the work of its teams to remove the crickets.

“Our maintenance crews see a little of everything in Southwest Idaho,” the department said alongside the video. “This video is from State Highway 51 last week. Mormon crickets are taking over the road this season!”

In the short clip, a tractor can be seen rolling over the crickets while a plough scoops up the insects, which can be heard getting crushed.

Idaho residents were warned to watch out for slick spots with lots of crickets and “If you get queasy easily, don’t watch this with the volume on”.

“Thank you ITD!” one Facebook user commented. “Your work on helping to scrape that grossness off of the HWY is appreciated!”

Another added: “We are on that highway a few weeks ago. It was disgusting!!”

The crickets are known as “Mormon crickets” because the same species of insect has dominated agricultural crops in the area since the time of Mormon settlers from 1847 onwards, ABC 7 reported.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it works with farmers to reduce the impact of cricket invasions, which can be economically devastating.

“Grasshoppers and Mormon crickets (hereafter, referred to collectively as grasshoppers) are natural components of this ecosystem,” the agency says. “However, their populations can reach outbreak levels and cause serious economic losses to rangeland forage, especially when accompanied by a drought.”

Idaho has seen similar occurrences before and the phenomenon is not unusual.