Lawn care question. (Any armchair entomologists out there?)

[Ben E Lou]

The lawn of the home we recently purchased wasn't well maintained, and there are some bare spots. As the weather has gotten warmer, some small ant hills have popped up in the back yard. We're having a cookout next weekend where some people will eat on blankets on the ground, so I located a lawn ant-killer (Triazicide) that's purported to be safe for children and pets within a few hours. I applied it yesterday afternoon to the parts of the back yard where I anticipate people sitting and watered it in per instructions.

Triazicide also kills, among other things, grubs. Well, this morning there are *dozens* of dead and dying grubs on the surface, every one of them in the area I treated. I've read that grubs can be bad for grass growth, so I'm wondering if I need to treat the entire lawn now. And I'm also wondering what the heck these things are? Any armchair entomologists out there that can help a brutha out? They are roughly 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, and here's a shot of a couple of them.

http://www.fof-ihof.com/upload/Ben%2...u/img_9121.jpg

[CraigSca]

Not sure if it's the same thing, but in Delaware I think those grubs were supposed to Japanese beetle larvae, and they feed on the roots of the grass (causing the brown spots). If you're getting brown all over, I'd treat the whole lawn. Then, I would burn them with fire.

[Dutch]

During my lawn "fighting" days (I just hire a "dude" now to do all this for me), I would go to the state university sites for recommendations. Might be slightly different in NC, but here are the good parts for light reading from UF. Not sure if you can "kill 'em all" before next weekend though.

To help prevent contamination and reduce the destruction of beneficial insects, spot treatments can be applied when damage is first noticed and areas are small. Treat the off-color areas and the surrounding 10-foot areas. If damage is widespread, the entire yard should be treated. After treatment, inspect the area two to three different times twice a week to determine if infestation is under control.

University of Florida recommendations for white grub insecticides change over time; check with our office for the latest information. Some products are only available to lawn care professionals who must have a license to apply them to your yard. They should be applied carefully as directed on the container's label. Read and understand all directions regarding dosage rates, application information, and precautions.

Granular insecticides and liquid concentrates are used to manage white grubs. Besides traditional compressed air sprayers, hose-end applicators are popular homeowner equipment for many grub insecticides. Those that use 15 to 20 gallons of water passing through the hose to empty a quart sized jar are appropriate kinds of applicators. Put the amount of insecticide in the jar as directed on the label for 1000 square feet. Fill the remainder of the jar with water. Spray the contents over 1000 square feet. To insure even coverage, spray back and forth across the same area.

When spraying for control of white grubs, the turf should be moist at the time of application. Immediately after spraying the insecticide, product labels will usually require that the turf be irrigated with a half-inch of water. This will soak the insecticide into the soil where the insects are feeding.

ENY-321/LH037: White Grub Management in Turf

Preventive Applications

In areas where grubs are repeatedly a problem, preventive applications may be helpful. Preventive treatments give turfgrass managers more flexibility in application timing than curative treatments. They also require less sampling and monitoring of grub populations. Preventive control requires the use of long residual insecticides, such as imidacloprid (Merit®, Season-Long Grub Control®), thiamethoxam (Meridian®), halofenozide (Mach2®, Ortho Grub-B-Gon®, Grub-Ex®), clothianidin (Arena®), or chlorantraniliprole (Acelepryn®). These products give good control of newly hatched grubs. The best application period is during the month or so before egg hatch until the time when very young grubs are present. Preventive control requires the use of long residual insecticides. Professional combination products (e.g., Allectus®, Aloft®) have a pyrethroid and a neonicotinoid insecticide premixed together, which could be used to try to reduce both adult and larval populations.

Ensuring Successful Treatments

To get the best results with any grub insecticide, mow and rake out dead grass and thatch (if more than ½ inch thick) before treatment. This allows the insecticide to penetrate better and reduces the amount of insecticide bound in the thatch and organic matter. Also, water the grass immediately after treatment (1/4 to 1/2 inch of water) to leach the insecticide into the root zone where the grubs are feeding, if this is stated on the label. Irrigating also brings grubs closer to the soil surface, which increases their contact with the insecticide residues. If irrigation is not possible, apply the insecticide just before a good rain. Prompt, post-treatment irrigation is especially important for sprays; once spray residue dries on foliage, it cannot be washed into the root zone by later drenching. Granular formulations may work better if you cant irrigate immediately

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Not sure if it's the same thing, but in Delaware I think those grubs were supposed to Japanese beetle larvae, and they feed on the roots of the grass (causing the brown spots). If you're getting brown all over, I'd treat the whole lawn. Then, I would burn them with fire.

I think these kill Japanese beetles. Just put a few in your yard.

[Dutch]

Even Florida bugs would be like, "Da Fuq is that!?"

[nilodor]

God bless winter

[JPhillips]

I have digger wasps and am reluctant to kill them for that very reason. They're only a big pain every few years, most years they emerge for a couple of weeks and then disappear again. They almost never sting people unless you really mess with them.

I also second Dutch with the university info. I've used that type of info for years.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Dutch

Even Florida bugs would be like, "Da Fuq is that!?"

That is a Suzumebachi (Japanese Giant Hornet).

[Dutch]

They do look pretty cool.

[albionmoonlight]

Probably too soon for help this weekend, but Dutch brings up a good point about contacting the local university. NC State has help for thing like this. They will even analyze soil samples that you bring in to see if it is good for gardens, too acidic, etc. Definitely a resource for longer term questions if you have them.

[CU Tiger]

This is NCSU site:

http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/Default.aspx


Look up Integrated Pest management or Other Pests for help.

Also if I may offer this advice. For fire ants, get the stuff that comes in the black can with the yellow lid and smells like shit and dust the crap out of the mounds. THEN the next day treat the areas as you did.

No more fire ants.

[digamma]

From a high school entomologist friend:

On the grubs, not sure. Grubs are very hard to key out. You need adults. My gut feeling is that it's some type of scarab beetle grub. If he just found them in his yard, I wouldn't worry too much about them. If his yard is kept like a putting green, he may want to get it id'd by a local.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by sabotai

That is a Suzumebachi (Japanese Giant Hornet).

Don't want to encounter one of those. But the Japanese Honey Bees tactic was pretty cool. "Just doing our thing, don't see any intruder here... NOW"

[Ben E Lou]

Thanks for all the feedback and links. This should be very helpful once I have a chance to digest it all. I was out and about most of yesterday and didn't have time to respond or interact here, but here are a couple of semi-humorous anecdotes about this.

1. With dozens of dead/dying grubs on the surface and a picnic/cookout next weekend, I was not looking forward to the cleanup effort. Then I went to go outside again maybe 5-10 minutes after posting this thread. I opened the back door and a bunch of large black birds flew away from the ground. A quick walk through the back yard revealed that the grub clutter had been reduced to almost nothing. Yay for the avian clean-up crew!

2. Late yesterday afternoon my six-year-old and I were in the back yard and noticed a lone grub, still alive and moving, on the surface of the lawn. In between the two clips in the video a bird flew up and landed on the fence, and she started yelling to it that there was food for it over by the slide. ("Hey bird, there's a yummy grub over there!!!") We moved to another part of the yard away from the grub, and then clip #2 happened.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204750344414824