One of the most common complaints you’ll hear about pests is lawn damage. But most of the time, you’ll find some sort of misdiagnosis. You think your lawn is being eaten by grasshoppers. But someone else thinks it’s a simple under-watering situation Today we’re going to discuss one of the most common lawn damagers. These voracious little worms are the Tampa Lawn Grubs.
Tampa Lawn Grubs: Overview
When you have thick, healthy, dark green grass it’s a great look and feel. But it’s also one of the most inviting parts of your home landscape to pest invasion. These invasions can make it look sickly or thin out, which can damage your property value. But arming yourself with information is the best first step you can take in this fight.
The best piece of info to be armed with is the ability to identify grubs. Once you learn their life cycles, symptoms, and identity, proper and optimal treatment becomes much easier to accomplish. Common signs that these pests have invaded your home can include several things. These are brown spots, dead and dying patches of grass, wilting blades, bite marks, and of course, insects. Signs of underground damage are thin or missing roots or even holes in your soil.
So let’s talk about the actual perps in this crime.
Tampa Lawn Grubs: …Grubs!
Among the most damaging of any pest in your lawn is the white grub. The white grubs are the larvae of a wide variety of scarab beetles, including masked chafers and Japanese beetles. In the spring, summer, and early fall, these plump, c-shaped larvae chow down on your grass roots just below the surface of the soil.
Life Cycle:
White grubs that become common beetles complete their life cycle in just one year. In the midsummer, the adult beetles mate and females lay eggs in the soil. These eggs hatch in about two weeks and the new, freshly minted grubs will start to eat up your grass roots. By the fall, the cold weather starts to roll in and the grubs make their way down. They burrow several inches into the toilet to go dormant for the winter. But when the grown warms back up, they crawl upwards and begin to feed on grass roots again. In the early summer, they finish their feast and turn into adult beetles.
Infestation Signs
Grub damage starts with grass blades wilting and is followed by brown patches of dead turf. Spongy, grub-damaged turf is easily lifted from the soil in the spring and summer to see the grubs underneath. Also, crows, skunks, or moles can be a sign of the grubs as all of these animals eat them in turn.
Tampa Lawn Grubs: Cutworm
Several species of this pest exist. Most of them are about two inches long and are gray or brown with stripes. The adult moths are grey with black and brown markings.
Life Cycle
Adult cutworm moths lay their eggs in the spring on the very tips of grass blades. These eggs hatch into warms, and they feed during the night and hide during the day. After feeding for two to four weeks, they hatch and become moths. This cycle can repeat about three to six times a year depending on your region and weather. Areas with mild winters, like Florida, experience more cycles of reproduction.
Symptoms
These worms shelter in underground burrows during the daytime, and crawl out at night to feed at the base of the grass. They bite the stems completely off. Both the burrows and sheared grasses are visible on second glance. But short grasses often are the worm’s favorites. This can lead to dead spots in your yard.
Tampa Lawn Grubs: Chinch Bug
Turfgrass can be attacked by several species of chinch bugs. But you’re most likely going to see the common hairy chinch bugs, which are spread across the country.
Chinch bugs are sap-sucking insects that feed by sucking on grass blades. While feeding, chinch bugs secrete an anticoagulant that causes the grass to stop absorbing water. As a result, the grass withers and dies.
Life cycle: Chinch bugs lay eggs in grass and produce at least two generations from spring to early fall when the weather begins to cool. Their eggs hatch in 20 to 30 days and the young bugs (known as nymphs) soon begin feeding on the grass. The nymphs mature in four to six weeks and then mate, repeating the cycle of life. When the weather cools in fall, adult chinch bugs seek shelter at the base of grass stems, where they remain inactive until the weather warms the following spring.
Symptoms: Chinch bug damage to lawns is most visible from June to September when the bugs are actively feeding. Irregular patches of turf first take on a purple tinge, and then wilt, yellow and turn brown. Due to the wilting and dryness of the grass, the damage is often mistaken for drought stress, but closer inspection will reveal the true culprit
What Can You Do?
Well, like most serious infestations, there’s not much a layman can do to remove it once it’s established. And unlike many home-invading insects, prevention isn’t as obvious. The best thing you can do is keep your lawn trimmed and well-maintained. But if you have something similar to a garden, a pile of firewood, or anything similar that can be a shelter for bugs, you’ll be at risk for some kind of infestation at some point.
But as I said earlier, identifying this quickly and contacting a pro is the best thing you can do. And when you do, make sure to reach out to someone that uses natural methods of pest control. I don’t have to tell you this I’m sure, but overuse of chemical pesticides puts the health of your home and family at risk. Not to mention that pesticide eventually making it’s way to your local water table, then your sink, and then inside of your body. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in situations regarding your health.