You Are Here: Management Updates 1999 Archive July 23, 1999

Date: July 23, 1999
Category: Insects
Subject: Hot Weather, Chinch Bugs, White Grubs

HOT HOT HOT - a broken record, for sure! Many towns have begun instituting watering bans or limits, and we can expect to see more turf entering drought stress. Remember that drought stress and chinch bug damage look virtually identical, so before blaming the drought for the dieing turf, get down and LOOK for chinch bugs. They can be seen moving on the surface on warm (plenty of those!!!) days or you can poke around in the upper thatch with your fingers. Also you can use a flooding technique - insert an open cylinder in the turf to a depth of three inches or more, fill the cylinder with water, and wait a few minutes. Any chinch bugs that are present will float to the surface. Note that it is very difficult to insert the darned cylinder into our New england thatch, so an alternative is to cut a turf sample (3 inches on a side and two or three inches deep), put the sample in a bucket, and fill the bucket with water.

I have just gotten my first (telephoned) report of young white grubs hatching. Remember that European chafer grubs thrive in relatively dry conditions - unirrigated lawns and athletic fields and the like - and they may do just fine this summer in spite of the heat and lack of rain. Some areas are reporting heavy flights of Japanese beetle adults, while others are reporting that few beetles have been evident - there is no "rhyme or reason" to the pattern, further evidence that turf insects seem to like to confuse the two-leggeds.

If you are in an area of the state where European chafers are active (the potential exists anywhere inside Route 495 and much of Worcester County, as well as some other patches), now would be a good time to start scouting for grubs.

- Submitted by: Dr. Pat Vittum