1. TURF INSECTS

2. INSECT HABITATS
Leaves and stems
Aphids and mites

3. INSECT HABITATS
Thatch
Chinch bugs and Sod webworms

4. INSECT HABITATS
Soil
White grubs and Mole crickets

5. CONTROL
Know insect
Timing of application is important

6. CONTROL
Healthy, competitive turf
Avoid succulent growth
Reduce thatch

7. CONTROL Endophytes: fungi symbiotic with turf repels insects
Currently, limited to cool-season turf
Primarily tall fescue and ryegrass

8. CONTROL
Insecticides
Typically curative

9. SOUTHERN CHINCH BUG
HOST: St. Augustine
DAMAGE: suck juice from grass

10. SOUTHERN CHINCH BUG
Hot, dry weather

11. SOUTHERN CHINCH BUG
Reside in thatch

12. SOUTHERN CHINCH BUG SYMPTOM First water stressed
Most active at perimeter

13. SOUTHERN CHINCH BUG SAMPLING Flotation
Threshold: 25 to 30 per square foot

14. SOUTHERN CHINCH BUG
CONTROL
Resistant varieties

15. WHITE GRUBS AND BILLBUGS
White grubs: Larval stage of beetles
May and June beetle, masked chafers, etc.
Rarely a pest in Lowcountry

17. WHITE GRUBS AND BILLBUGS
Billbugs: larva of snout beetles (weevils)

18. WHITE GRUBS AND BILLBUGS
DAMAGE
August
Feed on roots just below surface
Roll back dying turf like carpet
Predator damage (skunks, moles)

19. WHITE GRUBS AND BILLBUGS
SAMPLING
Strip one sq foot of turf
Threshold
White grubs: 3 to 4

20. WHITE GRUBS AND BILLBUGS
CONTROL
Milky spore disease only controls one type of white grub
Japanese beetle

21. CATERPILLARS Fall armyworm Sporadic pest in lawn
More common on golf course

22. CATERPILLARS
Sod Webworm
Much less common than armyworm

23. CATERPILLARS
DAMAGE
Eat foliage

24. CATERPILLARS
SAMPLING
Soapy flush: 1 oz of dishsoap / gallon

25. CATERPILLARS
CONTROL
Birds can be an indicator

26. MOLE CRICKETS Tawny and Southern are IMPORTED PESTS
Northern and Short winged are native

28. MOLE CRICKETS DAMAGE Eat roots Tunneling uproots turf Predator damage
Bermuda and bahia, but also centipede
Tunneling uproots turf
Predator damage

29. MOLE CRICKETS
SAMPLING
Soapy flush
Threshold: 2 to 4 per sq ft

30. MOLE CRICKETS
CONTROL
Introducing natural predators (parasitic nematode, parasitic fly, fungus)

31. MOLES
Searching for food

32. MOLES
DAMAGE
Tunnels mostly visual
Minor damage to turf

33. MOLES CONTROL Look for active tunnel
Collapse and check back in a couple of hours
Against concrete
Spike trap kills ‘em dead

34. MOLES CONTROL Sonic Hair Hot peppers Caster oil (Mole-Med) Baits Gum
Other products

35. MOLES
CONTROL
Control food source?

36. Nematodes

37. Nematodes
Host: Centipede, Bermuda

38. Nematodes
Favorable Conditions:
Sandy soil with a poor pH

39. Nematodes
Symptoms
Water stress
Poor root system

40. Nematodes
Control
Requires soil test to ID
Nematicide