Fall armyworms rarely kill grass but some lawns may be severely weakened. The good news is that armyworms will not hurt your lawn permanently. If a winter is severe, few armyworms will survive for next year. Winter cold has a great effect on armyworm populations. If possible, mow before you treat and then do not mow for 3 days after treatment. Treat in late afternoon, when the caterpillars are likely to begin feeding. Irrigate before treating, to move the caterpillars out of the thatch. Products containing Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) click for sources) are effective only on small (1/2 inch or less) worms. Wet the grass thoroughly and do not mow for three days after application. Liquid, not granular, insecticides are best to kill armyworms.Īny sprayable lawn insecticide (click for sources) e can be applied in a coarse spray over the grass. Their eggs develop into the black caterpillars you see in your lawn.
Summer shipments of sod from infested fields can also bring them in. If more than five are found in the water, it’s time to treat.Įach spring, storms and windy days transport the moths northward from Florida. By plunging the can firmly into the turf and filling it with soapy water, caterpillars in hiding will quickly float to the surface. If you have had army worms before, there is an easy early detection system: a gallon can with both ends removed and a bucket of soapy water. There are usually two angled stripes on its head – joined to a longer stripe, the marking looks like a long “Y”. The caterpillar is approximately 1 1/2 inch long, with white stripes down its body. As their numbers grow, entire lawns and fields can be eaten to the ground. Although birds eat the caterpillars, they are no match for hundreds of them in one lawn. Your first sign of a fall armyworm infestation might be several birds clustered on a turf area. The caterpillars feed at night, so the damage is not explainable at first. The first signs are brown patches of bermuda which rapidly grow bigger. As eye-popping as their feeding habit, when thousands of worms try to cross a busy highway, the results on the asphalt are truly disgusting! When a homeowner discovers an army of caterpillars marching across his lawn, devouring the bermuda grass, this aphorism is proved true for the insect world as well! Armyworm caterpillars are incredibly voracious as they feed on bermudagrass pastures and lawns in August and September. “An army travels by its stomach” according to military lore.
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