Below is information for identifying and managing common pests of turfgrass found throughout the southeast.
One way to identify insect pests of turf is to categorize them by where they feed within the turfgrass environment. These insects fall into three categories:
- insects that feed below ground
- insects that chew turf foliage
- insects that extract plant sap
- other pests
Pests that damage turf in these categories include:
- Insects that feed below ground include mole crickets, white grubs and billbugs.
- Insects that chew turf foliage include armyworms, cutworms and sod webworms.
- Insects that extract plant sap include aphids, chinch bugs and spittle bugs.
- Other pests are fire ants, scale insects, mealy bugs, and cicada killers.
| Sod webworm | Southern chinch bug |
| Fall armyworm | Two lined splittlebug |
| Mole crickets | White grubs |
| Hunting billbug | Rhodesgrass mealybug |
| Sugarcane beetle | Mites |
| Ants |
Sod Webworm
Herpetogramma phaeopteralis
Photo credit: Steven Arthurs, University of Florida
Fall Armyworm
Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith)
Photo credit: Steve L. Brown, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org
Southern Chinch Bug
Blissus insularis Barber
Photo credit: David Shetlar, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org
Two Lined Spittlebug
Prosapia bicincta (Say)
Photo credit: Clint Waltz, University of Georgia
Mole Crickets
Tawny mole cricket: Neoscapteriscus vicinus (Scudder)
Southern mole cricket: Neoscapteriscus borellii (Giglio-Tos)
Photo credit: David Jones, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org
White Grubs
Japanese Beetle, Chafers, May/June Beetle, Green June Beetle
Photo credit: Shimat V. Joseph, University of Georgia.
Hunting Billbug
Sphenophorus venatus vestitus (Chittenden)
Photo credit: David Shetlar, The Ohio State University.
Rhodesgrass Mealybug
Antonina graminis Maskell
Photo credit: Shimat V. Joseph, University of Georgia
Sugarcane Beetle
Euetheola humilis (Burmeister)
Photo credit: C. Sorenson, North Carolina State University.
Mites in Turfgrass
Photo credit: Kyeong-Yeoll Lee.
Fire Ants
Solenopsis invicta Buren
Photo credit: Jake Farnum, Bugwood.org