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Feed on plants & tree leaves |
A major
pest to southern lawns |
Fireants
sting & inject a toxic venom |
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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 creates other problems in your lawn.
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There are many species of aphids, and they feed on all types of vegetation. The white pine aphid feeds
on the bark of twigs and branches of Eastern white pine. Heavy aphid infestations can seriously weaken small trees and ornamentals. |
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The Fall Armyworms
are a major pest to southern lawns. Armyworm
is the caterpillar stage of certain moths and can occur in large numbers especially after a good rain follows a dry period.
During the day armyworms shelter in the throats of ants or burrow into the soil and emerge after sunset to feed on Warm-season grasses such as Bermuda grass and St. Augustine.
Among the cool-season grasses, Bluegrass, Ryegrass, Fine Fescue and Bentgrass are preferred. Armyworms may plants or burrow
into the soil and emerge after sunset to feed on Warm-season grasses such as Bermuda grass and St. Augustine. Among the cool-season
grasses, Bluegrass, Ryegrass, Fine Fescue and Bentgrass are preferred. Armyworms may be present during the spring, summer
or fall. The caterpillars hatch from eggs in two to four
days, depending on the temperature. Eggs develop to fully grown larvae in two to four weeks. The larvae burrow into the soil
and form pupae. Moths emerge in about 14 days. The first sign that enemy armyworms are near might be large clusters of birds
on your lawn. Look closer at the grass and you may see several caterpillars munching on the turf blades. Young armyworms are
one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch long. Mature ones are one and a half inches long. They are dark, with several light
stripes down the length of the body.
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Adult billbugs are about 1/5 to 3/4 inches long. They are beetles with long snouts, or bills that
carry to the tip a pair of strong jaws or mandibles with which the beetles chew their food. Clay yellow to reddish brown to
jet black in color, these beetles burrow in the grass stems near the surface of the soil and also feed on the leaves. Several
species of billbugs damage lawns. The bluegrass billbug is a bluegrass pest. The hunting billbug causes damage to Zoysia grass.
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Chiggers (red bugs) invade lawns from surrounding grassy or woody areas. These mites are annoying to people.
They attach themselves temporarily to the skin and release a point that causes severe irritation and intense itching. They
are very tiny and are seldom seen. |
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Chinchbugs are surface-feeding insects and most damaging to St. Augustine grass. You may see them
on grasses such as Zoysia, Bermuda, and Centipede, but infestations usually occur where high populations have built up on
St. Augustine grass. Adult chinch bugs are about 1/4 of an inch 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 to 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. |
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Dull-brown, gray or nearly black caterpillars that are 1½ - 2 inches long. Some cutworms are
spotted, others are striped. Usually they hide in the soil during the day and feed at night. They are the larvae of night-flying
brown or grayish moths. Cutworms occasionally infest lawns. They feed on the leaves or cut off the grass near the soil and
may do severe damage to seedlings of Bermudagrass, Bentgrass and ryegrass. |
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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 inches long and about 1/5 inch 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. . |
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Earwigs are beetle-like insects about 3/4 inches long and reddish-brown. The insect has a prominent pair
of forcept-like cerci at the rear of the body. The cerci of the male are curved. Earwigs hide during the day and forage at
night. These insects are occasionally found in lawns and sometimes they breed in enormous numbers in piles of lawn clippings.
The feed on all kinds of food, but do not normally damage lawns. |
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Fire ant mounds can be enormous. It used to be that each nest had but one queen, buried up to 25 feet 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. Fire ants often attack small animals and can kill them. Unlike many other ants, which bite
and then spray acid on the wound, fire ants only bite to get a grip and then sting (from the abdomen) and inject a toxic alkaloid venom. For humans, this is a painful sting, causing a burning sensation—hence the name fire ant—with the after effects
being potentially deadly to sensitive individuals. The venom of a fire ant sting causes stinging and swells into a bump. This
can cause severe pain and irritation especially when stung repeatedly by several at once. The bump often forms into a white
pustule, which is at risk of becoming infected if scratched |
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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. |
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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.
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The Japanese beetle
is probably the most devastating pest of urban landscape plants in the eastern United States. They feed on about 300 species
of plants, devouring leaves, flowers, and overripe or wounded fruit. They usually feed in groups, starting at the top of a
plant and working downward. The beetles are most active on warm, sunny days, and prefer plants that are in direct sunlight.
Adults emerge from the ground and begin feeding on plants in June. Activity is most intense over a 4 to 6 week period beginning
in late June, after which the beetles gradually die off. Individual beetles live about 30 to 45 days. The female begins laying
eggs soon after the adults emerge from the ground and mate. The developing beetles spend the next 10 months in the soil as
white grubs. The grubs grow quickly and by late August are almost full-sized. Grubs feed on the roots of your lawn. They
chew off grass roots and reduce the ability of grass to take up enough water to withstand the stresses of hot, dry weather.
As a result, large dead patches develop in the grub-infested areas. If the damage is allowed to develop to this stage, it
may be too late to save the turf. Early recognition of the problem can prevent this destruction. Plants that are especially
prone to damage include roses, grapes, Norway maple, Japanese maple, purple-leaf plum, etc.
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