Are you looking for organic pest control options for your grass farm, house garden, golf course, or pasture? Mole crickets can cause significant damage to any type of grass, but they particularly love Bahiana grass and bermuda grass. In California, insect damage to residential turf is not common, but certain species can still cause yellowing, browning, or death of the grass if it is already stressed. Damage usually starts in small patches that can merge into large dead areas. However, inadequate cultural care and the use of inappropriate grass species are more likely to cause unsanitary or death of the grass than insects.
Vertebrate predators such as skunks, raccoons, wild boars, and birds may be attracted to grass infested by insects and cause more damage by uprooting the grass in search of prey. To learn more about these pests, visit the UC IPM Home and Landscape website. Pathogens, excessive or inappropriate use of chemicals such as fertilizers and herbicides, and dog urine can also cause damage similar to that of insects. Before taking any insect control measures, make sure that insects are the ones causing the damage and not something else, and that the insect pest is present in stages of life that can be controlled.
Leather jackets, the larvae of crane flies, can sometimes cause significant damage by feeding on grass roots and crowns in colder and wetter areas of Northern California's coast (Humboldt and Del Norte counties) and on commercial turf farms. However, they are rarely numerous enough to cause damage in other parts of California.
