How to Identify Lawn Insects
Contrary to popular belief, not all insects found in your lawn are harmful. Most insects in your yard are actually helpful to the health of your grass and plants. If you're seeing damage to your lawn or plants, however, you might have some destructive insects in your yard. Because your lawn can contain a plethora of harmful and helpful insects, being able to tell the difference is important. Listed below are the most common harmful lawn insects and how to detect them. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Use a "Drench Test" to Detect Certain Worms and Bugs
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Mix two oz. of liquid dish soap with one gallon of water. Try to dilute the soap as thoroughly as possible without creating too many bubbles.
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Pour the soap and water mixture into a watering can. Sprinkle the mixture over at least one square yard of grass, and let it sit for 10 minutes. You should then see insects surface.
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3
Look for armyworms and army cutworms, which are fat, up to two inches long, and a muted gray, green or brownish color. If you see purple, reddish, black, or gray bugs that are up to one-half inch long, you have chinchbugs. Sod webworms are grayish, skinny and up to three-quarters of an inch.
Do Some Old-Fashioned Digging to Find Lawn Grubs
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Use a shovel or gardening trowel to dig around the roots of trees, shrubs and other plants in your yard. Also inspect the soil around the "crowns," where the roots and stems meet.
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Look for C-shaped, legless grubs that are white with reddish heads and up to three-eighths inch long. These are billbugs or "weevils."
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Look for grubs in late winter or summer. Grubs are yellowish with a reddish head and have six legs. They are scarab beetle larvae and can be very destructive to your plants and lawn. Like billbugs, grubs are C-shaped, but they grow up to 1 1/2 inches long.
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Tips & Warnings
Use both methods of detecting lawn insects because using only one method won't detect all varieties of insects that might be invading your lawn.
Don't treat your lawn for insects unless you have a real infestation because the treatment methods might end up hurting your grass and plants more than the bugs and worms.
Be sure to read the directions carefully before applying any insect treatment to your lawn. Remember that these treatments are usually strong and dangerous chemicals, so use extreme caution.
