Insects and Your Lawn
Insect control and grub control can help you achieve a healthy and green lawn. The key to insect control is to inspect your lawn regularly. Look for unwanted spots in the grass or insect populations. Lawn Aerate Utah specialists use two basic types of insect control — preventative and curative.
Insect control in lawns and gardens requires knowledge and experience dealing with common insects and grubs that cause significant damage. A Lawn Aerate Utah specialist can help you develop an insect control program that addresses the problem.
Name
|
Description
|
Ants
Fire Ants |
Ants occasionally appear in large enough numbers in the lawn that control is needed. The ants may not be actually damaging the grass itself, but the tunneling into the soil may be creating problems.
In recent years, Fire Ants have become a more serious problem and immediate control is usually required. (see below) |
Aphids |
|
Armyworms |
|
Billbugs |
|
Chiggers |
|
Chinchbugs |
Adult chinch bugs are about 1/4″ long and black with white wings folded over their backs. The insect mates early in the season when the temperature reaches 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The female lays eggs on roots, stems, leaves, leaf sheaths or crevices in nodes and other protected places. Eggs are laid over a 2 – 3 week period, with one female laying as many as 500 eggs. Damage is most severe in drought years, and can be prevented by planting perennial ryegrass, fine leaf and tall Fescues. Regular moisture increases levels of naturally occurring fungi that help keep chinch bugs in check. |
Cutworms |
|
Earthworms | ![]() Normally, earthworms are beneficial to lawns and soils in general. When they become too numerous, they sometimes become pests because of the small mounds of castings that look unsightly in short grass types. An imported species, the oriental earthworm, is found in some eastern states. It is 6″ – 8″ long and about 1/5″ in diameter. It is light green on the upper surface with a purplish-green line down the center of its back. It throws up abundant castings. |
Earwigs | ![]() |
Fire Ants | ![]() Fire ant mounds can be enormous. It used to be that each nest had but one queen, buried up to 25′ underground and supported by a complex network of other ants performing an amazing array of tasks. Now mounds are often found with multiple queens, presumably as a reaction to chemical pesticides. Those queens willing to share, have more successful colonies since it is harder to kill multiple queens than just one, and therefore their genes are passed along to their offspring. Worker ants live only a few months, but the queens live two years, producing about a thousand eggs a day. |
Fleas | Fleas occasionally spread to lawns from infested dogs, cats, or other nearby animals. They may attack people or pets. The female flea lays eggs on the skin of its host animal and as the animal walks the eggs fall off, which, could be in your lawn, carpet or your furniture. When the eggs hatch, they seek out a new host to provide a fresh meal. Some flea eggs can lay dormant for months or even years until they are activated by the vibration of a passing host.
|
Grasshoppers | ![]() Do not feed on the grasses of a well-kept lawn except when they are so numerous that forage is scarce. They usually migrate to lawns from croplands or wastelands. Control measures in lawns are seldom necessary. |
Grubs |
|
Japanese Beetles | ![]() The Japanese beetle spends about 10 months of the year in the soil as a white grub. The grubs grow quickly and by late August are almost full-sized (about 1″ long). Grubs feed on the grass roots, doing best in warm, slightly moist soil that has plenty of organic matter and tender grasses. However, they can survive in almost any soil in which plants can live. Adult beetles feed voraciously on ornamental plant leaves. Japanese beetle traps are not suggested as they only attract more beetles to your yard where they leg more eggs. Perhaps you might suggest your neighbor put up a trap or two so they all go over to his yard. |
Leafhoppers | ![]() Tiny triangular or wedge-shaped insects that fly or hop short distances. They are less than 1/5″ long, are green, yellow or brownish gray. Many species of leafhoppers infest lawns. They suck the sap from the leaves and stems of the grass. New lawns may be damaged so extensively that reseeding is necessary. Damage to established lawns is evident in whitened patches. It is often mistaken for damage due to dry weather or disease. |
Millipedes and Centipedes | ![]() Millipedes (thousand-legged worms) and centipedes (hundred-legged worms) are dark brown and have many segments. Most of them coil up when disturbed. Millipedes and centipedes do not usually damage lawns. Occasionally, millipedes congregate in yards after heavy rains. Their food is chiefly decaying vegetable matter. Some of the larger centipedes may bite people. Most species are not dangerous. Control of centipedes in lawns is seldom necessary. |
Mites | ![]() Several species of mites attack grasses. They suck the sap and cause the leaves to be blotched and stippled. Severe infestations can kill the plants. The Banks grass mite occurs throughout most of the US and occasionally attacks lawns. It is not ordinarily a pest in well-managed lawns. Clover mites feed on clover and other lawn plants. They are very tiny and brown. Although they feed only on plants, they are a nuisance when they enter homes. This usually occurs in spring and fall. |
Mole Crickets | ![]() Mole crickets feed at night during warm weather and after rain showers or irrigation. They come to the surface and feed on organic material, including grass, and other small organisms, including insects. During the day, and during periods of drought, they remain in their burrows, often for long periods of time.Like fire ants, we can not eradicate mole crickets. They are with us to stay. And like all other insects, we really cannot control them, we can only manage them so that they stay within tolerable population levels. |
Slugs and Snails | ![]() Slugs and snails may often move about on the lawn and may injure adjacent plants. They are night feeders and leave mucous trails on plants and sidewalks. |
Spiders | Spiders are found about the lawn, on flowers, plants and shrubbery. Most spiders are harmless to people and even beneficial because they capture and devour large numbers of harmful insects. They do not damage the grass or other vegetation. There are a couple of exceptions: black widow and brown recluse spiders. Consult a physician at once if bitten by either of these. |
Spittlebugs | ![]() |
Sod Webworm / Moth | ![]() If lots of sod webworm moths are observed in the evening, watch for damage in about 10 – 14 days. This is when their eggs begin to hatch into caterpillars. These caterpillars chew off the grass blades close to the soil surface leaving brown stubble as damage. Early August is typically when we see the heaviest dama |
Thrips | ![]() Thrips are found in lawns and sometimes in homes. They come from nearby grass or flowers. These tiny black or brown insects may inflict painful bites on people working about the lawn. Control measures in lawns are seldom practical. |
Ticks | ![]() Several kinds of ticks infest lawns. They drop on the grass from dogs and rodents. Most of them will attach themselves to people if given the opportunity. Pain main result from their bites. Some ticks transmit diseases, including Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis, Lyme Disease and tularemia. They usually aren’t harmful to lawns however.Shown: Deer Tick |