Although moths can lay eggs on the sod (turfgrass) pallets during the transit or before planting the sod, newly laid sod is particularly vulnerable to fall armyworm attacks. We have seen severe fall armyworm infestations on newly laid sod in residential and public lawns. Once an infestation is detected, it is time to treat it with insecticide. It is easier to manage caterpillars when they are small-sized. Once they start feeding, they grow in size. Scout the edges around any structures or trees or shrubs in the lawns at least three times a week (especially in August and September) for the caterpillar infestations. Monitoring is the critical step for managing fall armyworms.
A fully-grown caterpillar can reach approximately 1 ½ inches long. When you have an infestation, you will see hundreds of them munching on the turfgrass leaf blades. As the size of the caterpillar increases, they become noticeable. The small caterpillars are difficult to see as they are mostly hidden in the turfgrass canopy. The tiny caterpillars land on the turfgrass when the eggs hatch and immediately feed on turfgrass leaf blades. The eggmasses are off-white color, woolly or fussy mass. They go through several generations during summer and become noticeable in late summer and fall in Georgia.įall armyworm moths lay several hundreds of eggs (in eggmasses) on any surface they can find near the turfgrass, such as fences, walls of the house, porches, storage sheds, barns, trees, and shrubs. In spring and summer, adults of fall armyworm moths fly north from south Florida through weather fronts each year. A fall armyworm caterpillar can be easily identified by an inverted “Y” marking on the face (Image below). The turfgrass can go from a perfect green to complete brown within 2 to 3 days. The caterpillar stages of fall armyworm feed on the turfgrass leaf blades and stems. We are witnessing outbreak populations of fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda) in residential, and public lawns across Georgia at this moment (as of 30 Aug.
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