Spring is the peak time for certain pests such as lawn grubs, weevils and lawn beetle to wreak havoc in your yard.
Find out how to identify them and how best to control your pest issue to keep your lawn happy and healthy this spring and summer.
African Black Beetle
An African Black Beetle starts its life as white to creamy-white larvae. As a soft-bodied curl grub, this lawn grub can grow up to 25mm long and has three sets of legs with a hard, light brown head.
The adult lawn beetle is a shiny black scarab, up to 15mm in length, with long serrated legs. These pesky lawn grubs and lawn beetle create issues for your lawn from spring through to late summer.
Argentine Stem Weevil
The larvae for this lawn pest are a creamy white, legless and only grow up to 4mm long.
The adults are even smaller, growing up to 3mm long but are a dark grey to black colour with speckled grey body markings.
Their snout is distinctive in its protrusion. These cause issues throughout spring and summer.
Billbug
The Billbug is another weevil with creamy-white larvae but the distinction between them is their orange head rather than the brown.
The lawn grub growths into an adult weevil known for its bill snout and elbowed antennae. They grow up to 10mm long and are a dark brown to black colour.
Funnel Ant
The Funnel Ant spends the infancy period of its life as larvae in deep in the ant nest. They are often white or translucent, are immobile and about 2.5mm long.
The adults, however, are a shiny, light brown ant that can be up to 5mm in length with a long, jointed antennae.
The damage that these cause to lawns is during the warm months while they are active and nesting.
Couch Mite
The Couch Mite larvae are invisible to the human eye which makes it difficult to detect them early.
The adults are a creamy -white mite with an elongated abdomen but the body is still only 0.2mm long.
These cause the most damage to your lawn from spring to late summer.
Lawn Armyworm
A dark, soft-bodied caterpillar, Lawn Armyworm can grow up to 45mm long.
It has long white and yellow stripes that stretch down its back as a caterpillar, whereas the adult is a pale brown moth.
Its wingspan stretches out up to 40mm wide and has a white spot in the centre of the forewing. The Lawn Army Grub causes the most damage from spring, through summer and into autumn.
Mealybug
The Mealybug larvae and adults are quite similar in appearance; a dark pink to yellow body that is covered with a white, waxy secretion.
The difference between the adult and larvae is that the infant can grow up to 0.2mm long but the adult can be up to 5mm. This lawn pest also causes damage from spring to autumn.
Mole Cricket
Similar to the Mealybug, the larvae of the Mole Cricket resembles its fully grown adult stage, except are wingless.
The adults are brown with an elongated body, up to 50mm long and have a hard shiny head. These cause issues during the warm months of spring and summer.
The best way to treat these lawn pests is to use Lawn Lovers Grub Guard or Lawn Grub & Beetle Killer.
Follow the label instructions for each product and try to treat the issue quickly and as early as possible to avoid too much damage to your lawn.
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