Creating an environment hostile to pests includes enlisting the help of beneficial insects. These insects keep undesirable pest populations in check through their feeding, as either predators or parasites. Both the adult and immature stages of predators actively search out and consume prey. Parasites help by depositing eggs in or on the host. When they hatch, the host becomes their food source. What can you do to encourage helpful insects? …
To encourage high beneficial insect populations design your garden to incorporate a variety of flowering plants rich in nectar and pollen. Choose cultivars with easily accessible pollen found in plants with a single layer of petals or a tubular flower form. Common herbs, wildflowers, and scented plants are all attractive to beneficial insects. Do not clear out dead foliage in the fall, this is an important habitat for beneficial over…
Chinch Bugs Chinch bugs are the premier pest on St. Augustinegrass lawns and will attack other grasses except those in the coldest climates. Black, winged, and 1/5-inch long, they live and lay eggs in the thatch layer at the root line. Most damaging are the tiny red nymphs, which thrive on sap sucked from grass stems. The adult chinch bug is the scourge of southern grasses. The chinch bug nymph…
White Grubs These root-eating larvae of the scarab beetle family include Japanese beetles, June bugs, rose chafers, and the black turfgrass ataenius. Grub size and characteristics vary, but grubs are generally plump, whitish gray and C-shaped with brown heads, and three pairs of legs. In the summer, you can identify adult Japanese beetles, metallic green with copper wings, and June bugs, reddish brown nocturnal fliers. Look for: Wilted, bluish-gray grass…