Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones combat plague of crickets

[Farin]

Residents of a small town in Nevada are fighting their annual cricket infestation with a new kind of pesticide – classic rock'n'roll played all the way up to 11

[smaller]Sean Michaels | guardian.co.uk | Thursday 30 April 2009 | Link[/smaller]

Forget pesticide and flamethrowers, inhabitants of the Nevada desert have turned to Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones to defend themselves from devastating Mormon crickets.

Residents of Tuscarora, Nevada are plagued by armies of flightless crickets every year. Millions of the blood-red insects hatch in April and march through the badlands from May until August, in columns up to 3.2km long. This year, however, the locals came up with a plan – bombard the insects with ear-piercing rock'roll. Citizens blasted music – including Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones – for several days during the peak cricket season. Laura Moore, a Tuscarora resident, told the Wall Street Journal: "Crickets kind of sleep at night, so I would wake up first thing in the morning to get the music on and we would shut the music off at night."

The two-inch crickets lay waste to crops and gardens, and swarm over human settlements. "You'll wake up and there'll be one sitting on your forehead, looking at you," said Moore.

While swarms of crickets can cause car crashes, and snow plows are sometimes required to clear dead cricket detritus, it's the smell of the dying insects that most upsets Tuscarorans. "The yuck factor," summarised Ron Arthaud, a painter.

Tuscarora was a gold-mining town founded in the 19th century, but its population has now dwindled to about 13 residents. "In summer we get up to 20," said post officer Julie Parks. Traditionally they use chalk dust and poison bait to deter the creepy crawlies, but in 2006 they tried something different. Elaine Parks found a 1934 article in the Elko Free Press, describing townsfolk's use of a gong to keep crickets away. And so the people of Tuscarora tried the "boombox defence".

In 2006 at least, it worked. Many crickets proceeded no further than the rock'n'roll perimeter. State entomologist Jeff Knight was cautious in his approval. "The vibrations may deter the bugs, but I don't know of any research that says yes or no," he said.

Mormon crickets get their household name from an incident in the 19th century, when swarms of the bugs – also known as shield-black katydids, or Anabrus simplex – wreaked havoc in a Mormon settlement. But "I don't think they care about Mormons or Baptists," said Elko County's Lynn Forsberg. "I don't think they care about anything."

For now, citizens of Tuscarora are simply readying their groovy, danceable form of pesticide. All they have to do, Parks said, is "come up with a playlist".

[RonJonSurfer]

Would Buddy Holly music attract them?

[TheLizard]

Mormon crickets: They ride bicycles and infest your doorway.

[miamisammy29]

I think you're getting them confused with the Amish crickets and the Jehovah's crickets.

[MindCrime]

This topic is completely different from what I thought it was going to be based on the title.

[miamisammy29]

I though Plague of Crickets was one of those new Christian rock bands.

[LeeBB]

I think it's nice that these good English boys should donate a plaque for cricketers. I'm looking forward to reading the article when I can find my glasses...