2 May 2019

Customer Question – Can we identify this bug?

Q. “We found a colony of bugs as shown in the picture: they were lurking under the turf of our lawn. There are large yellowish area of grass, and there are far fewer snowdrops than I was expecting. I apologise for not providing a scale, but the diameter of the curled bug is about 20mm. Please, can you identify it? Do you have something that will control them? And when can I apply it?” Best wishes, Andrew Bryant

A. Thanks for the message and these are Chafer Grubs. They eat the roots of the grass and this is why you start off with a yellow patch as the roots are damaged and then as their numbers increase and more of the roots are damaged, the grass will eventually die. You also tend to find that birds (especially crows and magpies) and animals (foxes and badgers) attacking the lawn in an attempt to eat the grubs will cause even more damage. To stop them, apply Nemasys Chafer Grub Killer in April and September – please CLICK HERE to find out more.  Please feel free to contact me again for more advice.