If there’s one thing that’s hard to keep in Florida, it’s a nice lawn. Sure, we’re a shiny little peninsula full of sunlight and warm sand. But the swampy interior and idyllic temperatures are a hotbed for bug reproduction. And it only takes one of the many pests that call this state home to get down into your lawn and wreak havoc. And in our area just outside of Tampa, that holds true. So today we’ll talk about Dover lawn pest control. We’ll go over what pests you can expect to harm your lawn, and what you can do to spot them before it’s too late!
Dover Lawn Pest Control: Bugs of all kinds
Now, I know there’s nothing quite like a well-maintained yard. It’s the location of get-togethers, it’s where you spend your summers, it’s where your children play. But that’s exactly why it’s so important to make sure that you keep it safe and protected. Bugs come into your yard and dig tunnels, nibble on ornamentals, and strip the bark from trees. But worse than that? The lawn damage. Depending on the pest you’re dealing with you may experience anything from tunneling under the lawn turf leading to a few strips of dead grass, to the total loss of your lawn.
That’s why we’ll go through some of the most common pests you’ll find damaging lawns in Florida.
Chinch bugs
Chinch bugs are tiny black insects that are commonly found in lawns throughout the entire United States. There are different species of chinch bugs, with some of the most common being the aptly named common chinch bug, the hairy chinch bug, southern chinch bug, and western chinch bug. If you’re dealing with an infestation, it’s likely going to be one of these. And if you’re in Florida, the southern chinch bug is probably gonna be what’s chewing up your lawn. You can find it throughout the entire southeast and California.
Southern chinch bugs are dark red, brown, or black in coloration. They have a white band across the middle of their bodies as well. They typically range about one-tenth of an inch in size or the tip of a pen. The immature members of this species are bright red or greyish and sport a white lawn down their back. Some species of adult chinch bugs have two distinctive white spots on their back. See one of these, and you better believe you’ll need some Dover lawn pest control.
These bugs enjoy eating grass blades as a food source. They suck on the grass to get the poison that’s in their saliva into it. This poison stops the movement of water within the grass blade. Afterward, it turns yellow and dies. As a result, the chinch bug moves on after to another blade. Enough chinch bugs in one lawn will eventually spread outward in a circular pattern. This forms a large, dead patch in your lawn that’s hard to tell the source of. In fact, one of the biggest problems with this pest is not only how subtle their damage is, but how similar it appears to drought damage.
Armyworms
Up next is another bug that will have you running for Dover lawn pest control. The damage from these pests happens fast, and the pest in question is known as the Armyworm. Most commonly found in Florida and the rest of the Southeast, they’re most active in the early mornings and late evenings. A large enough infestation can turn a bright green turf into a patch of dirt over the course of a single season. The Fall armyworm is the species that causes the most damage to lawns. Other common infesting species are the yellow striped, beet, and true armyworms.
An armyworm is the larvae of a small moth that has white hind wings and gray front wings. These wings are mottled with light and dark splotches. Adult moths lay eggs in clusters of fifty or more at the base of host plants or tree leaves. So you can imagine how it doesn’t take many adults to lead to a pretty serious infestation of these pests.
When they hatch, the caterpillars have dark heads that sport a pale inverted “y” on their heads. They start to eat the second they hatch and don’t stop for fourteen days. When they grow to about an inch in length, their bodies change colors to brown with a white stripe along the side, and a reddish-brown head. Their lifecycle takes about twenty-eight days, which means that multiple generations can damage your lawn over the course of a year.
These pests feed primarily on bermudagrass, ryegrass, fescue, and bluegrass. But they can also be pests on agricultural crops. In fact, that’s where the name comes from! The name armyworm comes from farmers, where infestations of their crops can resemble an army as they move across large fields due to the sheer numbers of them and the destruction they cause.
Dover lawn pest control: What can I do?
The first thing you need to do is to try and keep your lawn healthy, for starters. Mowing too low and overapplying fertilizers are some of the biggest causes of lawn pest infestations. There’s nothing like nitrogen-rich grass that’s been burned and weakened if you’re a hungry pest! And make sure to keep up on other general yard maintenance. This includes things like removing leaf piles and keeping your grass mowed to a reasonable height. Pests flourish in things like overly thick thatch layers and leaf piles, so keeping those cleaned up will reduce your chance of infestation drastically.
But if you are already dealing with an infestation, you need to act fast. And you need to try to avoid going it alone. I know this may not be what many people want to hear, but lawn pests are usually too rapidly reproducing, buried, or dozens of other factors that make them impossible for a layman to treat alone. Instead of risking further infestation, or even damage to your lawn due to improper applications of pesticides, contact us through our website or at 1-800-634-1313. We’ll give you the help you need!
