Turfgrass Insect Library

White grubs are the larvae of various scarab beetles. They feed on turfgrass roots just below the soil surface, severing roots and causing turf to wilt, die, and lift away from the soil like a carpet.

Chinch bugs are sucking insects that extract plant sap and inject a phytotoxic salivary compound that causes irreversible turf death. Southern chinch bug is the most damaging pest of St. Augustinegrass in the southern United States.

Billbugs are weevils whose larvae bore into turfgrass stems and crowns, then move to root feeding as they grow. Damage is often misdiagnosed as drought stress or summer patch because it mimics both. Adult movement across pavement in spring is often the first sign of activity.

Sod webworm larvae are caterpillars that clip grass blades near the soil surface and pull plant material into silken tubes in the thatch. Tropical sod webworm (TSW) is particularly destructive in warm-season turf and can cause complete stand loss in a matter of days under heavy pressure.

Fall armyworms are migratory caterpillars that move in large numbers and can defoliate an entire lawn in 24–48 hours. They overwinter only in the Gulf Coast states and migrate northward each summer on storm systems. Outbreaks are episodic but can be catastrophic when conditions favor migration.