Pest Control OKC: How to tell what’s eating your lawn
Not all pests are created equal, some pests live underground while other in nests in the trees. Some invade your home while others just carve miles of tunnels into the lawn your worked so hard to make beautiful. Here are a few pests that you can keep an eye out for according to Pest Control OKC.
European Crane Flies: These nuisances resemble large mosquitoes and frequently appear in late summer and fall. They don’t bite or sting, but they will probably startle you if you mistake them for the world’s largest mosquito. They’re larvae state, called leatherjackets, resemble small, brown worms. Leatherjackets will feed on the roots of grass while they mature. This causes brown spots to appear in your lawn as the grass dies. Feeding will be heaviest during the summer as the larvae mature. You can check for infestation by cutting a 6 to 12-inch square foot of sod, digging down 4 inches, and peeling back the sod to look for leatherjackets. A healthy lawn will suffer damage from about 25 leatherjackets per square inch. Birds can be another handy indicator, look for birds scouring the ground for the tasty larvae.
Southern Chinch Bugs: Immature chinch bugs are reddish-orange with a white band across the back. Once they’re adults, they turn black in color. Adults also have shiny, white wings that fold neatly over their backs. Damage from these pests will start in sunny areas. Grass will brown and die. Once an area is dead you will see the browning spread across your lawn quickly, often within a day or so. Infestations might be spotty and may only affect portions of the lawn. Left untreated however, you can easily lose your entire lawn. Damage will typically occur in spring and fall. To look for these pests, take a coffee container and cut out both ends. Place it 3 inches into the ground and fill it with water. Chinch bugs will rise to the top of the water if present. Test near the edge of an affected area.
If you need pest control, call The Bug Guy, pest control okc, today.