Have you ever wondered what bugs eat grass? Some bugs are beneficial insects to the ecosystem, while others are invasive pests that can damage lawns.
In this blog, you will learn about some of the most common grass-eating bugs and how to control them if necessary.
Whether you are a gardener, farmer, or just a curious person, this blog will be interesting and informative.
Read on to discover the fascinating world of grass-eating bugs!
What Bugs Eat Grass That You Must Know?
Bugs are common insect species that can cause extensive damage or a heavy infestation on your lawn if you do not have immediate solutions.
Armyworms, cutworms, sod webworms, chinch bugs, or grubs are enjoyable in your grass garden.
If you want the right preventative treatments for bugs, you should know which lawn insects kill grass and adopt the best one for each kind during your lawn care schedule.
Grubs
White grubs are the enemy of your lawn. They are the hungry offspring of various scarab beetles, such as masked chafers and Japanese beetles.
Grubs lurk under the soil and nibble on the roots of your grass, weakening it and making it vulnerable to drought and disease.
You usually see them from spring to early fall, when they are plump and C-shaped.
Grubs can damage your lawn grass through distinctive signs of wilted grass blades. This problem then develops into brown turf patches, which make the grass’s surface layer dead.
If you notice that your lawn is spongy and lifts easily off the soil in the spring and summer, it may also be due to grub damage.
The last thing you can do is look for signs of crows, skunks, or moles digging up your lawn.
Chinch Bugs
Chinch bugs are the silent killers of your grass. Tiny insects suck the sap out of your grass, leaving it dry and dead.
You can find them in different parts of the country, but hairy is the most common and destructive.
The biggest chinch bug damage is a poison that stops your grass from absorbing water, leading to an extreme chinch bug infestation in a short time.
When chinch bugs feed on lawns, they cause irregular brown spots that look like drought stress. You normally detect these patches appearing from June to September.
The adult chinch bugs can make your grass turn purple and wilt, then yellow and die.
Sod Webworms
Sod webworms are considered common insects that eat grass in your garden.
They are the larvae of small moths that infest turfgrasses and create webs when they move, pulling together grass, soil, and plant debris.
The adults are buff-colored moths with snout-like projections that fly over the lawn’s canopy in the summer.
Experienced gardeners express that the full-grown larvae (caterpillars) are about 3/4″ long, brown or gray with spots, and can cause damage to your lawn by chewing off small patches of grass at ground level.
Your lawn can get an infestation of sod webworms when you see some brown patches or even brown grass.
In some situations, birds forage for worms in the turf, leaving behind holes and silken tunnels at the turf level. It also indicates that there are bugs in grass.
Cutworms
Cutworms have several different species. They usually measure around 2 inches and have gray or brown bodies with stripes.
You easily see cutworms with moths of a dull gray color and dark markings, which is different from the other grub infestation network.
Check your lawn in the evening if you want to collect cutworms. They come out of their underground tunnels to eat grass stems at the base, cutting them off completely.
You can see their tunnels and the severed grass if you look closely. They tend to attack short grasses more, causing dead spots in the lawn.
Armyworms
Armyworms are your lawn’s enemy. They are gray, yellow, or pink worms, one or two inches long. You can spot them at night near the light in the shape of brown moths with furry bellies.
Armyworms devour your grass and other plants, leading to serious armyworm damage in harvests.
They hide from the sun during the day and attack your lawn in the evening, at night, or early in the morning.
They usually leave bare circles on your lawn. If too many exist, your property looks like it’s moving.
How To Deal Bugs That Eat Grass Roots Effectively
It would help if you learned to deal with “What Bugs Eat Grass” to keep your beautiful lawn. If so, is it difficult to remove them from your grass? Below are some useful tips for you to apply.
Get Rid of The Amount Of Leaf Litter
Do you dread the sight of falling leaves? They can ruin your lawn by smothering the grass, inviting weeds and pests, and making a mess.
But you don’t have to spend hours raking them up every week. A good solution to deal with leaf litter is to use a leaf blower.
With a leaf blower, you can blast away the leaves in minutes and help you to have healthy grass.
If you follow this way, no more back-breaking raking, no more ant invasions, and no more worm infestations occur on your root’s grass.
Trim Bushes Constantly
Don’t let your bushes become a breeding ground for pests. They can destroy your plants and invade your lawn. When you prune your shrubs, you do more than make them look good.
First, you can protect bushes from insects that can lay eggs in grass and eat the leaves. And you also prevent debris and leaves from accumulating underneath, which can attract more pests.
Pruning your bushes is easy and rewarding. You’ll enjoy healthier plants and a cleaner lawn. And you’ll save yourself from the hassle of dealing with pests later on.
Please don’t wait until it’s too late. Prune your bushes today and keep common lawn pests away.
Clear Out All Weeds
Weeds are lawn parasites that make them unhealthy and ugly. They also attract pests that eat and damage plants.
You can find huge chinch bug populations hiding in weeds and harming your irrigation system.
The best approach to protecting the lawn root is to keep your garden clean and watered.
Remember to remove weeds and dead leaves often to have a good defense against common bugs such as species of scarab beetles, Japanese beetle grubs, and adult sod webworms.
Restrict Dead Grass
Dead grass on your lawn attracts pests that feed on living and dead grass plants.
This can cause more problems for your lawn’s health and appearance when you cannot apply good preventative grub control.
It would help if you bagged up the grass clippings as you mow regularly to cut and dispose of the dead grass and the pests simultaneously.
It is highly recommended to protect your plant from lawn pest damage quickly.
Be Careful Of Pooling Water
Water is a magnet for bugs, especially in the summer months.
Your irrigation system can keep your lawn healthy and beautiful, but it can also backfire if you don’t take care of it or leave it in the wrong place.
If you have a mosquito problem due to stagnant water, try changing the direction of the sprinkler head to avoid watering your lawn.
This helps you limit the risk of mosquitoes laying eggs in pooling water and leading to the attack of destructive pests over time.
Another thing to check is your gutters. If they are blocked by debris, water will collect and attract mosquitoes. Make sure to clean your gutters regularly, especially in the late summer.
Which Bugs In Lawn Are The Least Harmful?
Some kinds of common pests have a slight impact on your plant’s development, such as:
- Ladybugs are beneficial insects that feed on aphids that harm plants, pollinate flowers, and add color to your garden.
- Earthworms are helpful creatures that aerate the soil, improve drainage, and recycle organic matter. Moreover, they can also increase your soil’s fertility and water retention.
- Spiders are natural predators that control the population of insects like flies, mosquitoes, beetles, etc., reduce the need for pesticides, and create intricate webs.
FAQs
Which Are The Most Common Bugs That Eat Grass?
Some of the most common bugs that eat grass are caterpillars, such as armyworms, cutworms, and sod webworms; grubs (larvae of beetles);
chinch bugs that suck the sap from grass blades; and grasshoppers that chew on the foliage.
Are Grubs Harmless In All Situations?
Grubs are not harmless in all situations. They are the larvae of beetles that feed on grass roots and can cause damage to lawns and pastures.
They can also attract other animals that dig up the soil to eat them. However, some grubs can help decompose organic matter and aerate the soil.
How The Largest Size Do Chinch Bugs Have?
Chinch bugs are small insects that feed on grass sap and cause damage to lawns. They have different sizes depending on their life stage.
In particular, the immature chinch bugs are about 0.08 inches (2 mm) long and have a white band on their abdomen. The adult chinch bugs are 0.2 inches (5 mm) long and have black and white wings.
Conclusion
This blog has just answered “What bugs eat grass?” with different concerns about the kinds of bugs and how to deal with them.
It is wrong that grub worms or other bugs always harm your lawn’s health. It would help to learn more about keeping good bugs on your lawn.
