Lawn Insect Pests: Tips on How to Control the Bugs in Your Yard

lawn insect pests grasshopper
Although a number of factors, including weather and normal wear and tear, can ruin your eye-catching lawn, insects are among the most irritating and damaging pests to otherwise healthy lawns. While not all insects are harmful to lawns, the ones that are can cause damage in a variety of ways, including by:
  • dehydrating plants as they suck the juices out of them
  • destroying plant leaves and/or stems
  • eating away at plants' roots.

The way in which you get rid of lawn insects will depend on:

  • the area of plants the pests target (i.e. roots, leaves or juices)
  • the particular type of insect destroying your lawn and/or garden
  • the severity of the infestation
  • whether or not you have other animals that use or feed on your lawn and/or garden.
 
With so many different types of insecticide products on the market, finding the best one for your lawn can be difficult. While you will want products that are strong enough to kill the ruinous insects, as well as their larvae, you also need an insecticide that won't further damage your plants nor kill the helpful bugs in your garden.

How to Tell If You Have Lawn Insects

In many cases of insect infestation, you will be able to easily identify the presence of harmful bugs in your yard based on the visible damage they cause your plants. Leaves with holes in them, brown grass and otherwise dying plant life are immediate indicators that some pest is running amuck in your lawn and/or garden.
 
However, at other times, harmful lawn insects can be ruinous more subtly, especially if they attack the plant at its roots. Because you can't see all of the bugs attacking your garden, nor all of the damage they are causing, experts recommend flushing out your lawn with a soap solution comprised of two teaspoons of dishwashing soap diluted in 1 gallon of water.
 
Here are step-by-step instructions on how to use this solution to identify the lawn pests that are damaging your garden:
  1. Pick out a small area of your lawn (preferably a corner that measures about 2 feet by 2 feet).

  2. Pour the soap solution over the lawn. After about five minutes, any insects below the lawn's surface will rise to the top.

  3. Collect samples of the different types of insects that rise to the surface in a plastic bag or jar. Because the soap solution will likely kill many of these bugs, the dead varieties will be easier to gather.

  4. Take the samples to your local nursery or to your county's Agricultural Extension Services branch for proper identification.

Insecticides for Bug and Pest Control

Once you have determined which types of insects are ruining your lawn, you will be able to narrow down your choices of appropriate insecticides. Various types of insecticides are classified into one of the following categories:
  • contact insecticides that destroy bugs as soon as they meet them

  • inorganic insecticides that contain sulfur and metals (i.e. copper or fluorine compounds). Because of their toxicity, these are rarely used today.

  • natural insecticides that are produced from other plant life. For example, nicotine is a natural insecticide produced by the tobacco plant. However, to prevent nicotine contamination into plants used as food products, nicotine has been specifically banned from being used as a natural insecticide.

  • organic insecticides, used most frequently today, that are made up of synthetic chemicals

  • systemic insecticides that plants absorb. These work by killing the insects as they eat the plants containing systemic insecticides.
DDT as an Insecticide 
Although some insecticides are effective at killing ruinous bugs, they can contain ingredients that are also harmful to you and/or the environment. DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane) is one such insecticide that has been banned from use due to its negative impact on certain bird species. Currently, many manufacturers and environmentalists are working to find effective insecticides that won't also damage humans and the environment.

Any insecticide can come in a variety of forms, including:

  • aerosol sprays
  • dusts
  • fumigants (Sold as solids or liquid solutions, fumigants emit toxic vapors to control lawn bugs.)
  • gases and/or foggers
  • liquids (These may or may not need to be mixed with water before use.)
  • powders (If powder insecticides need to be mixed with water before use, then they are generally applied to lawns as sprays.)
As you choose between different varieties of insecticides, keep in mind that it is always best to start off with a less toxic, weaker variety first. This will ensure that the insecticide won't cause unnecessary damage to your lawn, yourself or the surrounding environment.
 
Resources
 
DIY Network (n.d.). Controlling lawn pests. Retrieved January 16, 2008, from the DIY Network Web site: http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/ip_repellents_pesticides/article/
0,2029,DIY_13971_2269905,00.html.
 
Home Tips (n.d.). Types of insecticides. Retrieved January 16, 2008, from the Home Tips Web site: http://www.hometips.com/repair/lawn_garden/pest_control/
insecticide_types.html.