 The next detection was in Georgia , USA , and at that time was assumed to be N. didactylus from the West Indies . It was in fact three South American Neoscapteriscus species , N. <unk> , N . <unk> , and N. <unk> , probably arrived in ship ballast . They caused major problems for decades as they spread in the southeastern <unk> mole cricket populations had built up since the early decades of the 20th century and damaged pastures , <unk> , playing fields and vegetable crops . From the late 1940s <unk> had been the <unk> of choice to control them , but when <unk> was banned by the U.S. <unk> in the 1970s , ranchers were left with no economic and effective control method . Especially to aid Florida ranchers , a project that became known as the <unk> / <unk> Mole Cricket Research Program was initiated in 1978 . In 1985 , a multi @-@ authored report was published on accomplishments . In 1988 , an account was published on prospects for biological control , and in 1996 an account of promising results with biological control . The program ended in 2004 after 25 years of running monitoring stations , and in 2006 a summary publication announced success : a 95 % reduction in mole cricket numbers in northern Florida , with biological control agents spreading potentially to all parts of Florida . Efforts to use Larra bicolor as a biological control agent in Florida began by <unk> a stock from Puerto Rico . It became established in a small area of southeastern Florida but had little effect on Neoscapteriscus populations . A stock from Bolivia became established in northern Florida and spread widely ( with some help ) to most of the rest of the state and neighboring states . Its survival depends upon the availability of suitable nectar sources . 
