from the turf stand. Symptoms usually occur in spring and autumn when adults are most abundant. Damage is
usually
misdiagnosed as delayed spring green-up,
draught stress, infertility issues, disease
incidence or normal fall dormancy. During the
summer months, when bermuda
Sugarcane Beetle
is actively growing damage is often undetected.
Since the adults are active on the turf surface at night, they are easiest to monitor by going out at night with a head lamp or flashlight and looking for them on the turf surface. This will not only tell you if hunting billbugs are present, but their relative population size. A second method would be to install pitfall traps in areas you believe hunting billbugs are active. The easiest way to install the traps is to take a cup cutter, remove a core of grass, and place a cup of equal size to the core you removed, in the remaining hole. This will allow you to trap adults as they are moving around at night. This method is effective at determining that hunting billbugs are present, but not the relative population size. The most effective time of year to control adults is in the spring, no later than three weeks after adults become active. Determining products that will control the larval stage is underway. The most effective time of year to control larvae is approximately six weeks after adults become active at night. At this point, the larvae are in the rootzone and are most vulnerable.
Sugarcane Beetle - although first recorded in the United States in 1856, the sugarcane beetle has not been considered a pest in turfgrass until recently. Although the adult stage was initially a pest in sugarcane, they have since been known to attack a wide variety of plant crops (corn, rice, roses, tobacco, strawberries, sweet potato and turfgrass).
Adult beetles are about 0.5” long and have distinctive punctures outlining vertical stripes that run the length of the abdomen. Not shiny like similar beetles, sugarcane adults are typically dull black with soil particles clinging to the puncture marks in the thorax and abdomen. Since sugarcane beetles are scarab beetles, the larvae are white grubs. It can be difficult to visually distinguish white grub species, so it is best to be familiar with the life cycles of these insect pests and know when they are active throughout the year to anticipate larval presence.
Unlike other scarab beetles, the sugarcane beetle overwinters as an adult. The adults begin to emerge in mid- to late-March and flight activity usually peaks around the last week of March and first week of April. After emergence, the adults mate and lay eggs. Larval populations are typically present approximately two weeks to two months after peak adult flight. While development continues underground during the summer, adult activity
decreases. A second generation of adults emerges in the autumn (September-October) and, depending on
temperatures, can be active through early winter. Sugarcane beetles are primarily pests of bermuda grass but have also been found in zoysia. It is still unknown whether the beetles actively feed on the plant itself or on organic matter in the soil but this, amongst other biological questions, is the focus of current research.
Although white grub populations are a constant source of concern, it is believed that sugarcane beetle adults are responsible for the majority of turf damage, both directly and indirectly. Active adults are capable of burrowing or tunnelling near the soil surface, causing distinct ridges in the turfgrass. Additionally, nighttime beetle activity can attract foraging animals to the area. Digging for adults under the soil surface can cause inadvertent damage to the turf. Scouting for sugarcane beetles requires very little effort. As nocturnal insects, they are attracted to light, so the best time to scout for these insects is at night, underneath or near a light source. In areas of a heavy infestation, sugarcane beetles will initially reside in the grass underneath a light and then move out radially as the population increases. Adults typically are active in the late hours of the evening, just after dusk, crawling on the turf surface. Sugarcane beetles are also found in recently-cut sod, at or just below the soil surface. Behavioural and control studies are currently underway to determine cost-effective and environmentally-friendly management plans.
TOPDRESSING & LOAM
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TREE ROOT AERATION
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JUNE/JULY 2012 PC 141
AERATION
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