Findingyour lawnriddled with bare brown patch , dying area and a generally chewed up looking at is monish . Fortunately , once you identify what insect are eating your lawn , you’re able to keep these common pests under ascendancy without damage the ecosystem . Grass ( Poaceae ) maturate in U.S. Department of Agriculture 2 through 11 depending on the motley .

Armyworms and Cutworms

When you recover tumid , up to 2 inch foresighted , brown - colored caterpillar chomping on your grass , you ’re belike dealing with armyworms or cutworm . These grass - eating caterpillars cause irregular patch of dead - looking grass in the lawn . Look for dark brown , dim , bronze or pale green caterpillars ( there are several species of both armyworms and cutworm ) at the boundary of the damage lawn area . For identification , you could even them out by pouring 2 congius of H2O mixed with 1/4 cupful of dish soap — pick the lemon odorous variety — onto the area .

Sod Webworms

Sod webworms , lawn moths at the larval stage , consume forage at nighttime . fledged sodomist webworm larva farm 3/4 to 1 inch long and look grey or pallid brownness . Keep an eye on any unorthodox brown areas in the grass from spring through fall . If you see pale brown 1/2 to 3/4 inch long moths flying near the control surface , check the grime for superoxide dismutase webworms . While the moths do n’t really corrode grass , the larva will eat and even kill areas of the lawn .

White Grubs

ashen eats feed on grass stem . Eventually they twist into one of several mallet mintage include Nipponese beetles and June hemipterous insect . If the Gunter Grass front bushed and wilted in any area of the lawn try lifting the sod . If it add up up well , it ’s potential that white grubs have damage the roots . When you lift the sod , you should see white larva curled up on the soil surface in the shape of the letter C.

Billbugs

Billbug larva eat grass and then reverse into beetle that also eat grass . The larva will eat the blades , the crown and the roots , make ecumenical destruction . If you see dead patch in the lawn , ordinarily in mid to late summer , and a substance that looks like sawdust around the base of the weed blades , you ’re probably dealing with billbug larva . The larva are off - white-hot with a chocolate-brown head . Pull up a small plane section of turf and front for the curled larva on the soil surface .

Treating Grass-Eating Pests

Treat armyworms , cutworms , turf webworm , blanched grubs and billbug larva with good nematodes . These flyspeck beneficial worms plan of attack and kill lawn - eating plague without posing a peril to hoi polloi , animals and good insects . apply the metal money Steinernema spp . to do by armyworms , cutworms and bill bug and greensward webworms . For bloodless chow look for Heterorhabditis spp nematodes .

Applying Nematodes

Use 5,000 nematodes per 1,600 straight foot of lawn . To apply , empty the computer software into a standard watering can and then fill it with water . shake up in the nematode worm and then sprinkle the water onto the area you are treating . The volume of water to nematode is not important as long as you may thoroughly dilute them and spread them over the domain you desire to care for . do by the lawn in the evening when the dirt temperature is at or above 60 degrees Fahrenheit . Repeat the program seven to 10 daylight afterward if the problem persists . nematode take three to four days to originate working .

References

green cut worm doing damage