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Grass-Destroying Lawn Pests To Look Out For

Few things are more frustrating for homeowners than watching a once-lush and green lawn turn patchy and yellow, and not knowing why. You've made sure that your lawn is getting adequate water, you've fertilized it properly, you can't find any evidence of a fungal infection, yet still your grass continues to die. Why?

Well, the problem might actually sit a little deeper than the surface. Here in Pensacola, we've got a lot of bugs that can wreak havoc on otherwise healthy lawns, and their devastating damage will continue until the infestation has been wiped out. While there are dozens of destructive lawn insect species that could potentially hurt your grass, we wanted to shed some light on a few of the most common ones that our lawn insect control team most frequently encounters.

Mole Crickets

Mole crickets are creepy little critters that live just below the surface of sandy soil, feeding on larvae, worms, and the roots of grasses. In their pursuit of food, a mole cricket can burrow tunnels of up to 20 feet long in a single night, destroying (and sometimes devouring) grass roots as they go.

• Most Active Season: Mid-late summer to mid-autumn. Mole cricket nymphs hatch during the summertime and start eating soon after they've emerged. You may also see a resurgence in early springtime, when dormant adult mole crickets reawaken for mating season.
• Signs of Possible Infestation: Unfortunately, most people don't see the consequences of a mole cricket infestation until after the damage is done and large swathes of grass start to die out. However, you might catch them early if you notice small mounds of soil piled up in your lawn where the mole crickets have dug into the earth. Mole cricket tunnels can also disturb and uproot the grass directly above them, looking almost like miniature mole tunnels.

Grubs

When we talk about grubs, we're specifically referring to white grubs, which are the larval forms of scarab beetles, typically Junebugs. You can often find these fat, inch-long grubs curled up into C-shapes just an inch or two beneath the soil surface. Unfortunately, healthy lawns are appealing to grubs, since they provide them with ample food sources. As if that wasn't enough, grubs are a favored food source of animals such as armadillos and raccoons, so you may find yourself with a mammalian pest problem, too!

• Most Active Season: Mid-summer into autumn. The larvae hatch a couple of weeks after their eggs are laid in midsummer, after which they continue to eat away at grasses and leaves until the temperatures start to drop. After that, they burrow several inches deeper into the ground to go dormant for the winter. They will emerge and become active again in the spring before maturing into adult beetles.
• Signs of Possible Infestation: Grass damaged by grubs will wilt and thin before it dies, initially in small patches which increase in size as the damage spreads. Turfgrass weakened by grub damage will often feel unusually bouncy, spongy, or loose when you walk on it. Keep your eyes open for the presence of beetles or grub-loving mammals in your yard, too.

Sod Webworms

Sod webworm larvae look like innocuous little yellow-green caterpillars, but they are voracious eaters that can wreak havoc on healthy grass in no time. Sod webworm moths (which are small, grayish-tan, and dusty-looking) lay their eggs on the blades of grass, and after the eggs hatch, sod webworms quickly get to work skeletonizing your grass one blade at a time.

• Most Active Season: Spring through mid-summer. Sod webworms have 2-3 generations per season, and damage from sod webworm larvae typically peaks around early summer.
• Signs of Possible Infestation: There are two big things to look out for when identifying sod webworm infestations. Sod webworm damage will often appear as grass leaves that have been eaten down to the vein, irregular notches or holes in leaves, and grass that has been clipped off at the crown. Secondly, sod webworms form warm, silk-lined tunnels to weather out the winters. If you spot silk-lined tunnels at roughly turf-level, you know you've got sod webworms.

Chinch Bugs

The term "chinch bugs" covers several types of sap-sucking insect species that all have roughly the same MO. As they suck the sap out of grass leaves, they also inject the leaves with a toxic substance that prevents them from absorbing water and nutrients, causing the grass to slowly die out. Chinch bug damage can wreak havoc on a once-healthy lawn if not immediately addressed, so spotting the damage early is crucial.

• Most Active Season: Mid-spring to early autumn. Like sod webworms, chinch bugs can produce several generations in an active season. Chinch bugs love hot weather, so they're most active in the summertime.
• Signs of Possible Infestation: Chinch bug damage is often mistaken for drought, especially as they're most active in the hottest summer months. Look closely, though. Chinch bug-damaged grass will wilt and turn straw-colored, but before it does, it often takes on a red-purplish tinge first.

What Do You Do?

Let's say that you've got a lawn insect problem, or at least, you suspect you do. The good news is that your lawn is not a lost cause. At R House, our team has years of experience in handling lawn insect control, with a keen knowledge of the types of pests Pensacola homeowners have to deal with. We know how to curb lawn insect infestations quickly, and thanks to our knowledge and expertise in lawn care services, we can even help you restore your lawn to full health afterwards.

R House specializes in offering integrated home, pest control, and lawn care services in Pensacola. We know from personal experience that lawn care and pest control often go hand in hand. If you're worried that you might have a lawn insect problem, don't hesitate to ask our experts today!

If you need fast and effective lawn insect control in Pensacola, call R House at 850-982-2472.