Identification and Management
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.
Common Turfgrass Pests in the Southeast
| 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