This species is native to South America and also occurs in the Southern United States, where it arrived as a contaminant of ship's ballast around 1900.

[2] North American mole cricket taxonomists agreed with his decision and altered Orthoptera Species File Online accordingly.

Since arriving in the United States, it has increased its range, which now extends from North Carolina to Louisiana and the whole of Florida, and west to Texas.

In Florida, the adults are active in spring and again in autumn, completing a single lifecycle during the summer and overwintering as a large nymph.

[7][8] The fly Ormia depleta acts in a similar manner, laying eggs on them [9] in both cases, the developing larvae devour the tissues of the host.

This did not take into account the benefit to turf grass (lawns, playing fields, and golf courses), to vegetable production, or to any areas outside Florida.