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What are Lawn Pests?

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What are Lawn Pests?

Find out about different types of lawn pests and how to control and prevent them from returning. Count on TruGreen® to help keep your yard insect-free.

Identify

Lawn insect identification requires a lot: the lawn pest’s appearance, a description of the damage caused, the region and time of year, and what type of turf grass is planted—it can be difficult. Here’s what our experts look for when identifying the lawn-destroying insects.

Signs of Lawn-damaging Insects

You can spot insect damage from drought stress or lawn disease by the following:

Turf species. Some insects won’t attack a certain turf species—for example, Chinch Bugs don’t attack Tall Fescue and are rarely a problem in Bermudagrass.
Season. Insects are seasonally active—for instance, Sod Webworms are active throughout the summer, whereas White Grub damage occurs in fall.
Location. Lawn-damaging insects prefer actively growing turf and avoid shade, so search the good turf around damaged areas for insect activity.
Shape. Grass damage from lawn pests is often irregularly shaped—perfect circles are rarely caused by an insect.

Identifying Lawn-destroying Insects

Once you find and catch a suspect, stick it on a clear piece of tape or in a sealable plastic bag so you can examine and/or show it to a TruGreen® expert. Start by checking its mouthparts to see if they match up with your turf grass damage:

Lawn pests with piercing/sucking mouthparts. These lawn pests have a sharp straw or tube they insert into leaves and stems in order to suck out nutritious grass juices. Damage resembles drought stress and starts with yellowing grass blades. As chlorophyll, water and plant nutrients are sucked out, the turf will appear wilted and dehydrated, making it easy to misdiagnose—even for professionals. Damaged areas will expand unless the insect is controlled. Common culprits include Chinch Bugs, Greenbug Aphid, Spittle Bugs and Mites.
Lawn insects with chewing mouthparts. The easiest way to spot an insect with chewing mouthparts is by its large mandibles—or jaws—on either side of its head. Mandibles move from side to side and are used for defense and plant chewing. Chewing removes root or leaf tissue, leaving notches or holes in leaves, making it easy to spot. For pests that feed on plant roots, like White Grubs, this damage can be trickier to find. Examples of lawn-damaging insects with chewing mouthparts include White Grubs, Billbugs, Mole Crickets, Sod Webworms and Cutworms.

Life Cycle

Lawn-destroying insects all start as eggs, but they differ in how often they shed exoskeletons to form larger ones—it depends on the species. Because lawn insects are cold-blooded, they can’t self-regulate heat either, so soil and air temperature further affect metamorphosis.

What Are the Two Types of Lawn Insect Metamorphosis?

Lawn pests go through metamorphosis—meaning a change in form—as they grow and develop. There are four major types of metamorphosis, but for lawn-damaging insects, only two are significant: complete and incomplete metamorphosis.

Complete Metamorphosis

Beetles that begin life as grubs or moths that begin life as caterpillars are both good examples of lawn insects undergoing complete metamorphosis. Other common lawn-damaging insects of this type include Sod Webworms, Cutworms and White Grub species such as the Japanese Beetle, Oriental Beetle, Masked Chafer and Sugar Cane.

Includes four distinct life stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult
Insect larvae look very different in form and shape than adults
Larvae damage turf grass the most as they feed, grow and molt
Larvae transform into pupae and then don’t move or feed
Pupae hide in protected, secluded spaces as they transform into adults
When fully mature, adults emerge from pupal casings and lay eggs of their own

Incomplete Metamorphosis

These lawn-destroying insects continuously increase their populations during your outdoor enjoyment season, so they can reach turf grass-damaging levels quickly—two prime examples include the Chinch Bug and Mole Cricket. Routine scouting, early identification and rapid response control are essential to preserving your lawn’s health.

Only three life stages: egg, nymph and adult—nymphs molt and grow many times
Nymphs—or immature adults—resemble adults from day one, only smaller in size and sometimes color
At each molt, a nymph’s wing buds grow more and more pronounced
Once the nymphs are fully winged, they are sexually mature adults
Nymphs and adults feed on the same host together for their entire life cycles
These lawn pests can be controlled as nymphs or adults—but not as eggs

Control

Lawn-destroying insects can infest soil and roots, feed on leaves and stems, or suck the moisture out of grass. Controlling lawn pests requires a multitiered attack: selection, prevention, management and treatment. To protect your yard from lawn insects, keep your grass healthy so you can live life outside—bug-free.

Four Steps for Controlling Lawn Pests

Selection. Choose the best turf grass species for your climate and region, preferably one that isn’t as susceptible to local lawn-damaging insects. For example, some types of Tall Fescue, Creeping Red Fescue and Perennial Ryegrass have microscopic fungi that ward off above-ground lawn pests.
Prevention. A healthy lawn needs little to no pesticide treatment. Look toward proper mowing, watering, irrigation and fertilization tactics to curb lawn-damaging insect infestations.
Management. Other things you can do to prevent and control lawn insects include removing thatch and promoting naturally occurring predators and parasites that feed on lawn-damaging insects—install birdhouses or look into beneficial nematodes.
Treatment. If lawn pests have started damaging your lawn, it’s time to fight back. Determine what insect you’re dealing with by the type of lawn damage and then look through the individual pages below for treatment options. Common culprits include: White Grubs and beetles that infect soil and roots; Armyworms and Billbugs that feed on leaves and stems; Chinch Bugs and mites that suck plant juice; as well as other nondamaging pests that you want gone, like mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers.

What if Lawn Pest Control Doesn’t Work?

If you’re still having problems, check to make sure you’re actually dealing with an insect:

True insects have three body regions: head, thorax and abdomen
Insects also have six legs (three pairs), and adults may have two pairs of wings
Spiders and mites are NOT true insects—they have two body regions (cephalothorax and abdomen) and eight legs (four pairs)

Then make sure you have identified the pest correctly. Although similar insects are grouped together because their damage and overall appearance are similar, several different species of lawn pests can be present. Look for the following group icon keys on each lawn-damaging insect page for broader treatment options: Sub-surface, Grubs, Leaf and Stem, Crown and Thatch, and Mole Cricket.

For help getting rid of grass-eating insects, contact a TruGreen® expert today and reclaim your yard from lawn pests.

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