Lawn Caterpillars

Are lawn caterpillars doing your mowing for you? Young caterpillars, or larvae, injure turfgrass by chewing notches along the edge of the leaves. This creates a ragged appearance (Figure 1) that may be hard to notice at first. Mature caterpillars eat a lot before they pupate and consume patches of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Eileen A. Buss, Robert Meagher
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries 2019-05-01
Series:EDIS
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Online Access:https://ojs.test.flvc.org/edis/article/view/115265
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Summary:Are lawn caterpillars doing your mowing for you? Young caterpillars, or larvae, injure turfgrass by chewing notches along the edge of the leaves. This creates a ragged appearance (Figure 1) that may be hard to notice at first. Mature caterpillars eat a lot before they pupate and consume patches of turfgrass down to the crown. Because the turf looks scalped so quickly, people think that the damage occurs “overnight.” Several caterpillar species can be turfgrass pests, including the tropical sod webworm, the fall armyworm, and the striped grass looper. This document is ENY-352 (IN608), one of a series of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date: April 2006. 
ISSN:2576-0009