Identifying features of various lawn pests. Billbug adult is a small weevil (snout beetle), 1/3 inch long, with a long, downward-pointing snout and elbowed, clubbed antennae. It is often seen walking on paved areas but is difficult to find in turf unless a drench test is used. Billbug larva is a creamy white, legless, 3/8-inch-long grub. The lack of legs distinguishes a billbug larva from a white grub larva.

Black turfgrass ataenius adult is a shiny jet black beetle, 1/5 inch long, with club-end antennae.

Chinch bug (southern) adult is small (less than 1/5 inch) and black with mostly white wings folded flat over the body. Both long- and short-winged forms may be present. Nymphs are bright red to black.

Armyworm and cutworm adults are dull brown or grayish, relatively large (up to 1-1/2 inches long), night-active moths. Armyworm and cutworm larva are up to 2 inches long at maturity, larvae often curl up and lie still when disturbed.

Skipper (fiery) adult is a 1-inch-long, orange to brownish butterfly with a hooked knob at the end of the antennae.

Lawn moth has an appendage in front of the head resembling a snout. Resting adults appear slender. When disturbed, the moth makes a short flight close to the grass. Adults are up to 3/4 inch long. Sod webworm (lawn moth) larva is cream colored, 3/4 inch long, and has a distinctive double row of brown or black spots down its back, located at the base of long bristles.

White grub (chafer) adult is a golden brown, up to 3/4-inch-long beetle with a dark brown head; it is hairy on the underside of its thorax. White grub larva has a distinct brown head capsule and legs, is up to 1-1/2 inches long; the posterior portion of its abdomen is enlarged, and it typically curls tightly into a C-shape.

Identifying features of various lawn pests

Adult chafer from A. S. Packard. 1876. Guide to the Study of Insects. New York: Henry Holt; Sod webworm by R. M. Bohart. 1947. Hilgardia 17(8):275; other insect line art by Chittenden, Marlatt, or Webster from Sanderson, E. D. and C. F. Jackson. 1912. Elementary Entomology. Boston: Ginn.