I am seeing extremely large numbers of small grasshoppers in most areas of the county.
Typically, during a wet spring most of the young grasshopper nymphs (before they get wings) will die from all the rain.
While we are wetter than we have been in a while, there are plenty of little grasshoppers that have survived the spring. In most all areas, I have seen grasshopper populations well above economic threshold levels. Most of these grasshoppers are large enough to consume a lot of forage and many are still growing, increasing the damage.
You can estimate the number of grasshoppers you have just by walking through your fields. Use the following levels to help make treatment decisions.
At 3 to 7 hoppers per square yard you would have only light damage, at 8 to 14 you would reach the economic threating level where it should pay to take some preventive action and spray your grasshoppers.
There are many good products you can use to manage grasshoppers- two that have some good residual control include Dimilin and Vantacor, (previously known as Prevathon). Dimilin is an excellent product before the grasshoppers get wings, but we are getting close to the grasshoppers being too large for Dimilin to be effective. Vantacor provides excellent control and will work on the larger grasshoppers we have now; it will provide up to 6 weeks of residual control and cost around $13.00 an acre. Other good insecticides that provide immediate results but do not have lots of residual control include any generic products containing lambda cyhalothrin, which cost approximately $3.40 per acre, and Mustang Max which cost around $4.75 an acre to treat. There are other pasture products available, but these tend to be the most cost effective. Check with one of our good local agriculture businesses and see what they are recommending.
For homeowners trying to control grasshoppers in their yards, landscapes, and gardens Cyfluthrin, bifenthrin, permethrin, cyhalothrin, and carbaryl are some of the active ingredients that control grasshoppers and are formulated and packaged for homeowner use. Look for one of these insecticides listed in the active ingredients on the product label. Read the label carefully to determine if the site you wish to treat (vegetable garden, fruit trees, etc.) is listed on the label as an approved site.
It is a shame that due to the good early rains we were able to grow some grass just to have to fight grasshoppers now. The treatments will work but do add an additional cost and management practice.
Time to Treat for Grubs
The very common June bug found in Texas is the adult stage of the white grub. There are over 100 varieties of May or June beetles in Texas, and few cause a major economic loss to crop and horticulture plants, but some can be damaging to turfgrass. The white grub, also known as a grubworm, feeds on the underground roots of plants such as turfgrass. These damaged areas show up in the lawn as low vigor areas; they may turn yellow or brown and weeds may tend to move into the turf taking over the weakened area. If the grubs have caused major damage to the turfgrass you can lift the grass by hand and roll it up like a rug in the house.
There are two major grubs that we should be concerned with in this part of Texas related to turfgrass management. They are the June beetle and the Southern Masked Chafer. Most warm season grasses are attacked by both grubs and feeding can begin as early as June and last through October.
White grub damage looks very similar to Take-All-Root-Rot with weakened, irregular patterns in the lawns. However, you can tell it is grub damage when the turf can be easily pulled from the soil because of the damaged root system. To determine if you need to treat grubs take a 1-foot square plug from the lawn (every 1000 ft) and make sure to include areas where the damaged and healthy lawn joins. Dig down 3 inches or so and count the number of grubs in that 1 ft x 1 ft area. If you find 4 or more grubs per square foot you need to treat the lawn.
Another good indication you have grubs is if you have moles. Moles are the pesky underground critters that leave tunnels in your yard. Moles eat grubs and other underground insects, not plant roots. While they do not eat plant roots, their tunneling throughout the yard can be very damaging to your turf. Gophers on the other hand leave mounds on top of the ground rather than tunnels and they do eat roots. You can rid yourself of gophers with approved gopher baits made of grain and a rodenticide, but these will not work on moles as they do not eat plant material. Moles have to be trapped to get rid of them, or if you get rid of your grubs you will not have a food source for the moles. Non-chemical control methods include the beneficial nematods Steinernema and Heterorhabditis which can be mixed with water and applied to the lawns using a hose end sprayer. Some research shows that under good conditions they have reduced the population by 50%. The microbial pesticide, Bacillus popilliae is recommended for white grub in some areas of the United States but has not shown to be effective against Texas white grub. The last non-chemical control and perhaps the most humorous is using spiked sandals and repeatedly walking over the damaged area. Research has shown that in some cases it has reduced the population by 50%.
Chemical control can be utilized for white grub, but timing is very critical. The chemicals used today are less toxic to beneficial arthropods and earthworms, however, that means they will need to be applied earlier to control the grub. Grubs need to be less than a 1/2 inch when insecticides are applied. Products containing imidacloprid and halofenozide are some of the more common products. You will find those names listed on the product bag under active ingredients. If you are already seeing damage to your lawn from larger grubs you can use products containing carbaryl or trichlorfon. Always follow the label directions on the product that you purchase to ensure you get the best control possible. You may need to treat it a second time in a few weeks. It is also important to remember that the insecticides must come in contact with the soil. Heavy thatch layers in your turf cancausetheinsecticides to bind to the thatch and cause the insecticide to not reach the soil level. For our area, the best time to apply a chemical treatment for grubs is mid-July.