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Grubs feed on grass roots causing your lawn to die. The key symptom of grub invasion is irregular dead patches which will lift up easily if tugged on. These patches have had the roots severed and there is nothing to anchor the sod in place. The highest concentration of grubs will be found in dead turf bordering green areas. The grub is C shaped with a brown head, white body and six legs on its upper half.
Life Cycle
The grub’s life cycle is very simple. The grub feeds on grassroots from mid-march to mid may, and then develops into its pupil form. The adult beetle then emerges in mid-June, mates over a two week span and retreats back into soil to lay its eggs. The grubs hatch and begin to feed in late July to August. The grubs will burrow below that frost line in the fall and stop feeding but if there is a thaw, they will resume feeding at anytime, even during the winter. The grubs will continue to feed in the spring, constantly growing larger.
Control
The fall (mid-august to September) is actually the best time to apply chemical control as the larvae have just hatched and can be killed quickly due to their small size. A certain percentage of chemical must be ingested in relation to body mass, therefore, the smaller the grub, the less the amount needed to kill it. They will not die with the first taste. It can take up to two or three weeks. If you don’t notice the problem in the fall then you must recognize the problem and apply in the spring. If you’re going to apply in the spring, do so around mid-March to mid-April as larvae are feeding ravenously.
Cultural control
When a lawn is well maintained, well watered and well fertilized, there may be grub problems but because the lawn is so vigorous, it will grow more roots as they are destroyed. You may not even detect a problem and if you do, the damage will not be as severe.
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