Armyworms Invading Sarasota Lawns: What Homeowners Need to Know

If the word “armyworms” conjures up a horror movie with an army of worms invading your town, devouring everything in sight with their crunching munching mouths, you’re not totally wrong.

If you have a lawn, these bugs are scary. 

Here in Sarasota, they’re not as bad as chinch bugs or sod webworms, but armyworms can quickly destroy a once healthy, thriving lawn. After they feast for just a few hours, you’re left with ugly brown patches of lawn and shredded blades of grass. 

How to control armyworms? Apply an armyworm preventative treatment to stop them before they start. Identify armyworm damage quickly, so you can kill any infestation before the problem gets worse. Follow good lawn care practices — a strong, healthy lawn is less susceptible to severe damage. 

Keep reading to learn more about armyworms in Sarasota lawns, including:

• First, What Are Armyworms?
• How to Identify Armyworm Damage
• Armyworm Prevention Tips
• Armyworm Treatment Options: Should You Tackle This Yourself?
• Armyworm Treatment Options: What the Pros Use

First, What Are Armyworms? 

Armyworms are destructive caterpillars that feast on lawns. They’re the larvae stage of moths. Before they grow up and fly away, they eat. And eat. And eat. 

Haven’t seen one? That’s no surprise. They’re most active at night and hide during the day.

If you did see one, it would be about two inches long, brown or greenish, with a striped body. A tell-tale sign: they have a distinct upside down Y marking on their heads. 

Armyworms feed on the surface of blades of grass, often leaving behind a see-through "windowpane" effect, but they can also shear grass right to the ground if the infestation is heavy. 

Here in Sarasota, armyworms are most active in late spring through late fall, with peak activity and the worst damage typically occurring in the late summer and early fall, especially after periods of heavy rain.

Why Are They Called Armyworms? 

They earned their military-inspired name because they move in large groups, or "armies" to devour grass when food is scarce.

You might see these “armies” moving through your lawn if you’re out there late at night or very early in the morning. Maybe you couldn’t sleep so you took a peaceful stroll. (Don’t expect to get much sleep after witnessing an army of worms moving through your lawn.)

We’re talking big numbers, even from the very beginning. 

The adult moths will lay up to 1,000 eggs in a single night. They lay their eggs in areas near handy food sources like your tasty lawn, often on grass blades, fenceposts or the side of your house.

Once the eggs hatch, the tiny worms immediately chow down. 

Then, the cycle keeps repeating as the hungry larvae grow, pupate in the soil, and emerge as new moths — which can lay more eggs. 

Here’s what the cycle looks like out there as you’re calmly watching Netflix and munching chips: 

1. Adult moths arrive, often swept in by wind or storm systems. 

2. Female moths lay hundreds of eggs in clusters on grass blades, leaves of shrubs, or nearby structures. 

3. All those eggs hatch into tiny caterpillars within just a few days. They start feeding on grass right away. 

4. The larvae grow fast, devouring large amounts of grass, sometimes destroying an entire lawn in just a few days. 

5. After a few weeks of feeding, the caterpillars burrow into the soil to form pupae. 

6. Within a couple of weeks, the pupae emerge as new moths, completing the cycle and starting the destructive process all over again. Fun, right?

How to Identify Armyworm Damage

How to tell if you have armyworms? Watch for these signs: 

• “Windowpane” damage — the outer layer of grass blades might be chewed off, leaving a thin, see-through layer.
• The grass might look torn and ragged.
• Large infestations can leave patches of brown or bare areas in your lawn.
• Animals like birds or skunks may dig up the lawn in search of the worms. (Apparently armyworms are tasty.)

Try a Fun Science Experiment

How to identify armyworms? Mix a tablespoon of liquid dish soap into a five-gallon bucket of water and pour it on a patch of lawn where you suspect armyworms lurk. Armyworms will float to the surface in a few minutes.

Armyworm Prevention Tips 

How to prevent armyworms? Follow these tips:

• Apply a preventive pesticide to stop them before they can do any damage. (More on this in a bit.)
• Avoid overwatering your lawn and improve any areas that have poor drainage. Armyworms are attracted to wet areas.
• Watch for armyworms after storms. Tropical storms often carry in the moths that produce armyworms, and that triggers infestations. Pay extra attention to signs of armyworm damage in your lawn following storms. 

Encourage a Healthy Lawn

The best defense against armyworms is a healthy lawn and good lawn care practices. Weak or stressed grass is more vulnerable to insect pests like armyworms. Follow these tips: 

Mow at the Right Height

How to protect your lawn from armyworms? Avoid cutting your grass too short, as this weakens your lawn and makes it more vulnerable to hungry bugs.  Keep your grass at a height of 3–4 inches to promote deeper, stronger roots. And don’t cut more than a third of a blade off at once. 

Fertilize Wisely

Healthy, thriving grass is a great method of Sarasota lawn pest control. Use a balanced, slow-release fertilizer formula and follow the recommended application rates.

Dethatch Regularly

Thatch, that dense, spongy layer of shoots, stems, and roots that accumulates between your grass and the soil, is like a big welcome mat for armyworms. If your lawn’s thatch layer is more than half an inch thick, it's time to dethatch.

That thick layer of thatch can also make insecticide treatments less effective because the product soaks into the thatch instead of reaching the grass and insects bugs below. 

How to Get Rid of Thatch?

Lawn aeration uses a machine to pull out tiny cores of soil from your lawn, breaking down thatch and allowing water and oxygen to get to the lawn’s roots again.

It’s smart to have your Sarasota lawn aerated once a year to keep those grass roots breathing and to keep thatch from building up and creating a home for dastardly chinch bugs.

Aeration should be done when your grass is actively growing, ideally in spring here in Sarasota, at the beginning of the growing season. 

Armyworm Treatment Options: Should You Tackle This Yourself? 

You can buy insecticide to prevent and kill armyworms, but there are a few good reasons to leave this to the pros:

• Will you remember to apply the pesticide? You already have a lot on your plate. It won’t do any good sitting on your garage shelf.
• Armyworms spread super quickly. Professional-grade insecticides are often more effective at knocking down large populations fast, before your whole lawn is munched down to the ground.
• Are you sure it’s really armyworms? Do you know how to identify armyworm damage? The damage you see could actually be from a different insect. Or a lawn disease. Or drought. Or overwatering. Lawn care pros can quickly diagnose the problem and hop right on a solution to get things under control.
• Once the bugs are gone, now what? Professionals know how to control armyworms, and how to fix or replace your damaged lawn so it’s healthy and thriving again as soon as possible.
• Applying pesticides requires care, skill and knowledge. If you don’t do it correctly, it might not work— and you could harm your lawn and the environment. 

Armyworm Treatment Options: What the Pros Use

The same insecticide Tropical Gardens crews use to prevent sod webworms also targets armyworms.

This preventive application will usually protect your lawn from armyworms. If the hungry villains do show up, we spot treat with a contact insecticide.

Contact insecticides work by killing insects through direct contact with the active ingredient. Most work by disrupting the insect's nervous system, causing it to lose coordination and die. 

We’ll do a follow-up visit to make sure the hungry invaders are gone for good. 

How to Control Armyworms? Talk to Us 

You have enough to worry about without stressing about armies of worms invading your pretty green lawn.

Keep the horror stories on your TV and leave the insect prevention to us. 

Get on board with a comprehensive lawn care program to prevent armyworms in the first place.

When we visit your yard regularly, we’ll keep an eye out for the pesky invaders and get rid of any starting to feast on your lawn. 

Hand over your armyworm worries to skilled lawn care services in Sarasota FL that specialize in comprehensive turf care, including insect control. 

Let’s get started. We’ll help you figure it all out. 

Give us a call or fill out our form today! Our team is skilled and ready to help you keep your lawn safe from armies of hungry worms.