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 2^nd generation of adult moths will emerge.  The 2^nd 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…

1. American Dog Tick
2. Lone Star Tick
3. Deer Tick
4. Brown Dog Tick
5. 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 2^nd and 3^rd 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.

For more lawncare related information, please check out www.ezlawncarecompanion.com.

Chris Harrison is an avid lawncare enthusiast and the author of the "EZ Lawncare Companion". For more information on lawncare related topics please check out his website at www.ezlawncarecompanion.comor email him at info@ezlawncarecompanion.com.