Army worm is a common pest problem for both lawns, plants and agricultural crops all over the world, a pest which can be absolutely devastating to the flora affected due to the severity of damage that occurs during an invasion. Army worms are in fact caterpillars of the Spodoptera mauritia moth, and will infect and impact lawns when the moth lays eggs within the thatch layer of the lawn, which then results in the caterpillars hatching and then devouring the turf for its food, and we all know how hungry caterpillars can be from memories of those children’s books.
Army Worm infestation will appear as dead patches in a lawn which seem to appear overnight, first with the patches appearing an off colour, and then quickly turning brown during dieback. Sometimes we can see trails as the caterpillars move across the turf, whereby instead of brown patches we will see brown trails.
The damage caused to a lawn by Army Worm can be only minor or it can be severe, all dependant upon the number of eggs that were laid by the moths. I’ve seen only small areas of lawn affected for a couple of weeks which resulted in little dieback, and then the damage repaired to the lawn on its own within a couple of weeks after the attack.
Worse infestations of Army Worm in lawn can devastate much larger patches or almost the entire lawn in the severest attacks.
We will notice Army Worm or another similar type of caterpillar affecting our lawns when patches of lawn start looking odd and off-colour, with a closer inspection of the grass revealing little cut pieces of lawn leaf as well.
We can then go out to the lawn right on dusk, with a torch to look carefully at the affected area of lawn, which should reveal to us those hungry little caterpillars munching away on our lovely turf.
Is Treatment Of Army Worm Necessary
Is there any need to treat Army Worm or will the problem go away on its own? Well, yes the problem will go away on its own as the caterpillars mature, although various degrees of damage will be left behind in its wake, either small or large patches of turf in dieback, so there is that to consider.
It is this author’s opinion that Army Worm should be treated immediately by everyone who experiences it. If not treated we are leaving the problem to keep reoccurring in the future, not just to our own lawns and even vegetable garden, but also to all other lawns in our area. Past this is that the problem of Army Worm if not controlled is that it can spread over entire continents, wreaking devastation in its wake.
As this article is being written in 2020 it can be reported that in the past year alone, and even right now, Army Worm is causing a catastrophic crop attack all over the world, which does threaten the world’s food supplies, from Africa to India, China, everywhere right now Army Worm is creating extremely serious worldwide crop failures, all at once.
With these things in mind, we all need to play our parts in controlling Army Worm however we can, and for the average lawn owner that means treatment to kill any instance of Army Worm we find in our lawns, that we should never leave the problem to just go away, that these pests need to be eradicated on sight, every single time.
How To Treat And Kill Army Worm
Army Worm is easily treated with the use of a lawn insecticide. Such pesticides would be applied to the turf in late afternoon or right on dusk when the caterpillars are most actively feeding. Usually the lawn is very lightly watered before or after treatment is applied.
The caterpillars then ingest the pesticide, and die.
Repeat applications may be necessary if we have the moths responsible present in our area, which of course we would do if our lawn is infected, and that not all Army Worms will be killed in a single application.
It’s all very simple.
One example of a pesticide for Army Worm can be found here:
Yates Insect Killer For Lawns
These pesticides will also take care of a number of other lawn nasties at the same time.
Be sure to follow manufacturers instructions for the correct and safe use of their products.
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