Lawn Beetles

We love our lawns don’t we?

A carpet of green that has so many uses. It’s a natural air conditioner – cooling the yard and the home. Lawns are safe play areas for the kids…and they just help a garden look fantastic.

Even with all the right mowing, feeding and watering, a lawn can sometimes show signs of stress and right now there’s a few lawns in need of help.
Signs of lawn beetle damage
• You experienced serious damage (bare patches, loose turf (easy to pull)) from either lawn beetles or lawn grubs last season.
• You observed or observe large numbers of black beetles in your lawn this spring.
• Large numbers of birds continue to land on your lawn and appear to be feeding (on lawn grubs).
• You find very large numbers of witchetty grub-like larvae in garden beds adjacent to your lawn (five to six grubs per spadeful).

What is a Black Beetle?

Found on or in the soil, shiny black, slow moving and able to fly. The larvae live under the soil and look like a white grub.

Do they attack some lawns more than others?

Usually kikuyu, couch and fescue varieties of lawn are the lawns susceptible and affected.
Typically, we don’t see problems with Black Beetle larvae in Sir Walter lawns

Autumn is a time when lawn beetles are on the move – turning from grub to adult then laying more eggs

What is the lifecycle?

Mostly beetles hibernate over winter, during Spring they become more active and feeding on the stem and roots of lawns and laying eggs.
By Summer, these eggs hatch into grubs and you will found larvae and adults together.
By late summer – Autumn there can be an explosion in numbers and this is generally when an infestation may occur.

One or two grubs not an issue but finding lots – a major problem

How do I treat?

Apply an insecticide to the area and to reapply again in three weeks to ensure you have broken the lifecycle of the lavae. Using an insecticide that has two actions, it kills immediately the bugs it comes in contact with and also has a systemic action where any bugs that eat the plant in the coming weeks will also get a dose.

There is some great low toxicity formulas on the market keeping your family and pets safe.
Grub Guard has the lowest toxicity formula

For more top lawn information, contact the people who know. Head to The Turf Farm website