Our horticulturist found these 3 billbug adults crawling about on the sidewalk this week. No doubt looking for a place to spend the winter. Billbugs are one of the main insects that damage lawns along with chinchbugs and white grubs. Billbugs are small, generally not more than 1/2 an inch long. Their larvae are very small legless grubs.
Billbugs are generally active during the heat of summer and unfortunately their damage looks, well like just about every other insect, disease and drought that damage lawns in summer (why there’s no picture of damage). Both adults and larvae feed on the grass plant crowns. One way to check for damage is to tug on individual grass plants on the edge of a damaged area, if they pull out easily, and you see “sawdust” there is a good possibility there are billbugs in the lawn.
We routinely check for billbugs during the season but they are difficult to see. If you suspect billbugs or other lawn damaging insects we are only a phone call or email away.
