As summer ends, we are getting more and more calls with questions about lawn damage. People are seeing dry yellowing spots in their lawns and dead patches. The main culprits are billbugs and chinch bugs.
Billbugs & Lawn Damage
Billbugs are common in the treasure valley and can cause significant damage to lawns if left untreated. While Billbugs are actually a member of the weevil family adults look like dark beetle and have long elephant-like trunks. Billbugs begin to lay eggs in plant stems in the middle of May as spring temperatures start to rise. These eggs hatch about 1-2 weeks later to small white grubs with brown heads. These Billbug larvae feed on stems, roots, and crowns of the grass resulting in dead patchy spots on the lawn.
Billbug damage is most easily identified by getting a good grip in the dry spots and giving a tug, if the grass feels loose from the dirt you probably have billbugs. Barrier Pest Control has a fast and effective treatment for billbugs, and it comes with our guarantee for the season so please give Barrier a call if you’re seeing billbug damage in your lawn.
Chinch Bugs & Lawn Damage
Chinch bugs are another common pest found in Idaho lawns. Chinch bugs are tiny, hard-to-see insects that cause damage to lawns similar to billbugs. Chinch bugs have black bodies, a white stripe, and white wings that fold across their backs. They are very hard to see at just a quarter of an inch long so spotting they can be difficult.
Chinch bugs feed on your lawn by Cushing the grass blades dry and then injecting a poison that kills them, their damage could result in just a few small patches or they could kill the entire lawn. While your best defense is a healthy lawn if you are seeing chinch bug damage you will need a professional insecticide application to kill them. If you have spotted Chinch bug damage in your lawn please call Barrier Pest Control for a full yard treatment to get your lawn the protection it needs.
