GrassRoots Turf

Warm-season lawns in the Southeast are vulnerable to a variety of turf-damaging insects. Early identification and treatment are key to protecting your grass from serious damage. Here’s a guide to the most common culprits:

Armyworms (Fall)

Type: Caterpillar (future moth)

Season: Summer to Fall
Damage: Feeds aggressively for 3 weeks, leaving turf shredded. They are surface feeders that can rapidly strip grass blades, turning a lawn brown in just a few days as they “march” across the turf in large groups.

Identification: Caterpillars with a white inverted Y-shaped mark between the eyes and colored stripes down their body.

Note: Outbreaks often follow tropical storms.

Chinch Bugs

Type: Dark insects with white bands or spots.

Season: Active from spring; peak damage late June–September.

Damage: They use needle-like mouthparts to suck the moisture/sap from grass blades and inject a toxic substance, causing grass to yellow, brown, and die. They thrive in heat.

Identification: Tiny, black-bodied adults with white, diamond-shaped wings. Nymphs are red with a white band. Dark insects with white bands or spots. Irregular patchy damage, often mistaken for drought or disease.

Spittlebugs

Type: Froghoppers; immature forms live in frothy spittle.

Season: Most visible in August–September.

Damage: Turf feels squishy; it starts in shaded areas. The nymphs create a conspicuous white, frothy, spit-like mass (spittle) on the grass stem to protect themselves. Both nymphs and adults suck the plant juices from the grass stems and crowns. Heavy infestations cause the grass to yellow, wilt, or turn brown; their damage is usually most noticeable on Centipedegrass and St. Augustinegrass.

Identification: Orange-striped wings; ivory immature bugs. Adults are small, dark, toad-like insects. The nymphs (young) are soft-bodied, yellowish-green insects.

Grass Affected: Centipede, Zoysia, Bermuda.

Billbugs

Type: Snouted beetles; larvae are white, legless grubs.

Season: Damage peaks in June–July.

Damage: The adults notch the grass blades and deposit eggs inside the stem. The larvae hatch and feed inside the grass stem before moving to the crown and upper roots. Symptoms mimic grub damage (yellowing, easily pulled-out dead grass), but you will find sawdust-like frass (excrement) near the damaged crown. The grass pulls out easily at the crown.

Identification: Small, hard-shelled, black or brown snout beetles (weevils). Their larvae are small, legless, creamy-white grubs with brown heads. Irregular dead spots; soil remains firm.

Cutworms

Type: Moth larvae

Season: Spring through Fall

Damage: They are surface feeders that cut off stems, foliage and grass blades near the crown (soil level) while feeding at night. This results in small, circular dead spots often mistaken for disease or chemical burn. They are a serious pest on golf courses but also damage home lawns.

Identification: Dull brown or gray, soft-bodied caterpillars that often curl up tightly into a “C” when disturbed. They are the larvae of certain moths.

Mole Crickets

Type:  Burrowing insects with spade-like forelegs.

Season: Surface activity in spring; damage peaks in summer.

Damage: They tunnel beneath the surface, severing the grass roots, and also feed on roots and shoots. Their tunneling loosens soil, creates visible ridges, and causes the turf to dry out.

Identification: Large, burrowing, light-brown insects with strong, spade-like front legs modified for digging. Small tunnels; turf destruction if unchecked.

Sod Webworms

Type: Small, light-colored caterpillars with dark heads and spots (larvae of the “lawn moth”).

Season: Peak activity September–November.

Damage: Shears grass at the thatch line. They chew off grass blades just above the crown or create a “window-paned” effect, often leaving small silk webs near the soil. Damage appears as ragged, irregular brown patches.

Prevention: Regular mowing at the proper height helps deter damage.

Grubs

(Not included in standard program; additional cost)

Type: C-shaped larvae of beetles

Season: Active below soil for months to years.

Damage: They live beneath the soil and feed directly on the grass roots, causing the turf to die and detach from the soil. Often, symptoms look drought-like with yellowing of grass blades.

Identification: C-shaped, off-white, plump larvae with brown heads. Larvae of beetles (like June, Japanese, and Chafer beetles).

Fire Ants

Type: Aggressive mound-building ants.

Damage: They are a safety hazard to people and pets due to their painful stings. The mounds themselves can smother and kill the grass directly underneath by blocking sunlight and their extensive tunneling disrupts the root system.

Identification: Reddish-brown, aggressive, stinging ants that build large, distinctive dome-shaped dirt mounds.

Note: Not native; arrived in the 1930s via cargo from Brazil.