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Pests
By Chris Harrison
There are a
number of pests willing and able to invade your yard, and depending on
your location, some pests may be more common than others.
Ants
Ants don’t
really have any negative effects on your grass, but they can become a
nuisance to the homeowner. They build ant hills in the yard, they
seem to always be around when you want to relax under some shade tree,
and some can even afflict a painful sting (such as fire ants).
Fire ants are
more commonly found in the southern part of the country. If you do
find yourself having fire ants, I’d recommend that you take measures
to rid yourself of the pest. So, how can you tell if you have fire
ants? Unfortunately it can be somewhat difficult because they look
much like ordinary ants. They’re anywhere from 1/8 to 1/4 inches long
and reddish brown to black in color. Again, sounds like your
ordinary, basic, ant. Where they stand out is their aggressive
behavior and characteristic mound-shaped nests (which are usually 12
inches or more in diameter and height).
Armyworms
Armyworms can
strike in most regions of the country, but have a tendency to migrate
towards the Midwest and southern states. With warm-season grasses,
they seem to prefer bermudagrass and St. Augustinegrass, while amongst
the cool-season grasses they go for the bluegrass, ryegrass, fine
fescue, and bentgrass.
The name Armyworm
comes from the notion that the worms “march” in quantity over an area,
feeding on lawns in large masses, leaving a trail of destruction, and
then moving on to greener pastures. The larvae stage of the armyworm
is about a ¼ inch to 2 ½ inch caterpillar with a green/brown/black
color. They have a light stripe running down each side. The adult
stage is a brownish-gray moth with a wingspan of about 1 ½ inches.
Billbugs
Billbugs are not
actually bugs, but rather belong to the weevil family. In their
larvae stage, they typically have a white, legless, body accompanied
by a brown head. When they reach their adult stage, they become 1/4
to 3/8 inches in length with a dark grey to black coating. In their
adult stage they also feature a snout-like beak with pinchers on the
end.
There are
different varieties of Billbugs and each variety establishes itself in
different regions of the country. Bluegrass
Billbugs generally can be found in the northern states, from eastern
New England all the way out west to Washington. These varieties of
billbugs prefer Kentucky bluegrass, but will also occasionally infest
Perennial Ryegrass, Red Fescue, and Tall Fescue. The
Denver
Billbug likes to hang out in the western part of the country in states
such as Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska. Like the Bluegrass, they also
prefer Kentucky bluegrass. Finally, you have Hunting
Billbugs which are generally a larger variety and have two line
markings on their thorax. These are found more in the southeast part
of the country and prefer bermudagrass and zoysiagrasses.
Chiggers
Chiggers for the
most part are harmless to your yard, but they can be a big annoyance
for the homeowner. Usually active during the late spring and early
summer months when grass is at its heaviest, Chiggers will bite their
host by inserting their mouthparts into a skin pore or hair follicle.
Usually the victim will have no idea they’ve been bitten until some
time later when a small, reddish welt appears on the skin accompanied
by intense itching…sort of like you have a case of poison ivy.
With the naked
eye, most chiggers will remain unseen. At the larvae stage they will
be orange, yellow, or light red and only about 1/150 to 1/120 inches
in diameter. At the adult stage they are usually bright red, have
hairy bodies, and travel rapidly. They also will get to the humongous
size of 1/20 inches in length.
Chinch Bugs
There are a
variety of Chinch Bugs that attack lawns within the country, but the
two that are most commonly found are the hairy chinch bug
and the common chinch bug. The common chinch bug can be
found more in the southern region of the country, ranging from South
Dakota across to Virginia, and further south around mid-Texas to
mid-Georgia. The hairy chinch bug resides more in the northern range
of this area and extends all the way up throughout the northeast.
Chinch Bugs
will go thru 5 larvae stages, each stage changing in color and
markings. In the final form, their adult form, the wings will be
completely visible, with white markings, and will rest flatly on their
backs. They will range anywhere from 1/8 to 1/5 inches in length at
this stage.
Cutworms
Cutworms are
the caterpillar stage of the “miller” moth. These are the moths that
you see at night, during the summer months, hanging around your front
porch lights.
The larval
stage is when cutworms will occasionally infest lawns. During the
day, the larvae will hide out in the soil and thatch, but at night,
they will come out of hiding and conjure up injury to plants in a
variety of ways. Solitary surface cutworms will cut off
the plant just below or above the soil line, severing the stems. This
is where the name cutworm originates from, the manner in which they
cut down plants as they feed. Climbing species will go
so far as to climb on the grass and dine on the leaves of the plants.
Subterranean species will remain in the soil and feed
upon the roots and underground parts. Finally, Army
cutworms work as a team, consuming the tops of plants and then
“marching” on to other areas.
Leafhoppers
Leafhoppers
are tiny wedge-shaped insects that fly or hop short distances when
disturbed. They range in size from 1/4 to 1/2 inch long and can range
in color from green, to yellow, to brown, and sometimes even gray.
Found on the East and West coasts, Leafhoppers can reside anywhere
within the country.
Mole Crickets
Mole Crickets get
their name because of the similar features and characteristics that
they share with actual moles. Mainly, they feed on grubs and they dig
tunnels thru your yard. The damage caused by Mole Crickets is nothing
to brush off. In Florida alone it’s estimated that Mole Crickets do
more than $30,000,000.00 in damages each year. Definitely a little
more than just regular pocket change! So if you live in the Southeast
or Southwest, such as Southern Alabama, Georgia, Florida, the Gulf
Coast or the Eastern Seaboard, it would be a good idea to keep an eye
out for these pests. Along with the geographical location, mole
crickets have also shown a fondness to grasses such as Bermuda,
centipede, St. Augustine, and bahiagrass.
When they do
reach the Adult stage they will be plump, winged, and about 1 to 2
inches in length. Their forelegs will grow enlarged, and robust, and
are used to help the mole cricket with their digging. With wings,
mole crickets have been known to fly as far as 5 miles during the
mating season. They are nocturnal in their feeding and like the adult
cutworm (Miller Moth) they are attracted to light. Flying along with
the attraction to light can lead them to your home during the night.
Once they land and begin looking for food, it’s more than likely
you’ve found a new friend. Sort of like a stray cat…once you feed it,
it’s there to stay.
Sod Webworms
There are four
species of sod webworms that will perform damage to a lawn. They are
the Vagabond,
Bluegrass,
Larger,
and Striped
sod webworms. The Vagabond webworm will rarely cause significant
damage because they feed mainly during the late fall and early spring
when turf is more actively growing. Bluegrass, Larger, and Striped
are more of a problem because they will cause most of their damage
during the summer as they finish their feeding late in the spring in
late May to early June. Once feeding completes, they will burrow deep
into the thatch or soil to begin the pupal stage. After a couple
weeks, an adult moth will emerge at night from the cocoon, mate, and
begin to lay eggs. The female will randomly drop eggs as she flies
low to the ground. The larvae from these will hatch within 7 to 10
days and begin to feed immediately throughout the mid to late summer
(July to early August), for 6 to 10 weeks they will continue to feed
and then enter the pupal stage again, once complete, a 2nd
generation of adult moths will emerge. The 2nd generation
of adults will mate, lay eggs, and have larvae that will begin to feed
in the fall. So where the Vagabond webworm goes thru 1 generation
within a given year, the others go thru 2.
Spittlebugs
Out of all the
pests we’ve looked at to this point, I’ve got to say that Spittlebugs
have a distinctive honor that all the other pests could only hope
for. I mean after all, wouldn’t you want a name that’s derived from
the foam or “spit” that you create when you eat? Come on, who
wouldn’t want that?
Right after
hatching the spittlebug nymph is in search of food. The spittlebug
nymph will make its way to the leaf joint of the plant. At this
point, it will begin to eat and froth. When they eat, the nymph will
face its head downward and puncture the plant stem with its
needle-like mouth. Sap will begin to pump into the body with excess
being expelled through the anus. As it is passed out, it is mixed
with a substance that is secreted by the glands on the abdomen. When
this mixture is forced out, the pressure and exposure to air will
begin to form bubbles. The tail continues to move up and down
throughout this entire ordeal allowing the bubbles to continue to come
out. As they emerge, the nymph will use its legs to pull the bubbles
forward to cover its back. After some time, the nymph will be
completely secluded within the bubble mass, or spittle, that it has
produced.
Ticks
Ticks are pests
that actually cause a greater risk to homeowners then to their yards.
Each and every year, ticks have been known to spread illnesses such as
Lyme disease and Spotted Fever to thousands of people across the
country. Though they cause little lawn damage, the effects that they
can have on you, or your pet, is reason enough to stop a moment and
take a closer look.
Ticks are less of
an insect and more of an arachnid, such as a spider. They have a
one-piece body, crablike legs, and a harpoon-like barb which will
extrude from their mouth and attach to a host (such as yourself or
your pet) for feeding. Feeding proceeds slowly and may go unnoticed
for a considerable amount of time. In fact, some ticks will take
several days to complete feeding.
With the more
than 800 types of tick species that exist throughout the world, they
can be broken down into two groups, “hard” ticks and “soft”
ticks. Hard ticks have a hard shield just behind their mouthpart and
have a flat, oval shape. The mouthpart of the hard tick is visible at
the front of the body. Soft ticks lack the hard shield found on the
hard tick, and have more of a tough, leathery, wrinkled shape. The
mouthpart is situated underneath the body and is not visible at the
front of the body.
As mentioned,
ticks are known to carry and transmit a variety of diseases to their
host. The 5 ticks that you most likely will encounter that can spread
disease are the…
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American Dog
Tick
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Lone Star Tick
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Deer Tick
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Brown Dog Tick
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Winter Tick
White Grubs
Out of all the
pests we’ve looked at, white grubs may be the most damaging lawn pest
in the country. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the
Japanese beetle grub alone is estimated to cause $234 million dollars
in damage each and every year. And remember, this is only one species
of the white grub. From the Japanese beetle, to the European chafer,
or the masked chafer, or the Black turfgrass ataenius, white grubs are
the immature or larval stage, of many different species of the scarab
beetle.
During the
summer, late June to early July, the adult beetle will emerge from the
ground in search of food and for a mate. The female will spend 2-3
weeks in July laying anywhere from 40 to 60 eggs in a burrow about 3
inches into the ground. This is where the life cycle of the white
grub starts…at the egg. The egg is creamy white in
color, oval in shape, and about 1/16 inches in length. When laid in
the soil and given time to absorb water, the egg will swell and become
slightly more rounded.
Depending on
outdoor conditions, such as soil moisture and temperatures, the eggs
will hatch in about 2 weeks, and emerging from the eggs will be the
larvae, or c-shaped white grub. The grub will have a thick
creamy-white body, with short legs and a brown head. At this stage is
where the majority of damage will take place, as the young grub will
live in the soil and feed on grass roots close to the surface for a
large part of the later summer months (typically August). At the end
of summer, beginning of fall, the grub will molt (develop) into its 2nd
and 3rd stages continually growing and consuming more and
more roots. Damage often appears at this time. As the temperature
continues to drop during the fall and winter, the grub will move
further into the soil, and take refuge until spring arrives. When
spring finally arrives, the grub moves on up and continues where it
left off, feeding on the root…only this time for a shorter period of
time. Now, a common misperception a lot of people have at this time
is that the damage they see is from spring grubs…not true. Most
damage seen in the spring is a result of feeding during the fall, not
the spring.
Come late spring,
the white grub will end its feeding and begin its third stage, or
pupae stage. The pupae are slightly larger than the adult,
and form in chambers 1-2 inches into the soil. At first the pupae
will take on a cream color, but before it emerges as an adult, it will
darken.
This finally
leads us to the last stage, the adult. As we saw with
the start of the cycle, the egg, in late June to early July, the
beetle will emerge from the pupae and crawl out of the soil looking
for food and a mate. The adult is a robust, oval beetle with
antennae’s that end in a large club of flattened plates. Adults are
typically of the scarab beetle type.
Grubs are
perennial pests of the cool-season and transition zone grasses. As
they begin to feed on the roots of tender grass plants, the damage
will first appear as a sort of drought stress. As they continue to
feed throughout the mid-to-late summer months, this will eventually
lead to areas of the turf dying off which will appear as large
irregular brown patches in your lawn. Unfortunately, grubs usually go
unnoticed until damage begins to show up in early fall, but by this
time, it will be too late.
Click here to learn more about the
different types of lawn pests
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