A Question About Grubs

Today while we were out celebrating, my wife and I started discussing grubs. ( I'm pretty sure that's what most couples talk about

on their anniversary ) My wife asked if the poisons put down to kill the grubs was becoming more effective. We have gone from a lot

of grubbing animal calls to none and she was wondering why that was. I told her that I would ask you guys because you are all so

intelligent. So what happened to all of the grubs in our area and are we talking about the larvae of the June bug or some other

member of the insect world?

Paul:
lack of rain or moist soil.

pick65

Moles ate em all hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Well the first two don't fit. Living a few miles from Lake Michigan, we rarely have dry soil or a lack of rain. And since I've never

seen a mole, it's more likely the grubs ate them.

This time of year I expect they've morphed into adults, who will lay eggs for the next Gen.

There are all sorts of grubs out there in the lawns. The Japanese beetle is the big one here, but I found Asian Garden beetles on my peach tree so who knows, maybe that one is the up and comer.

I think there are more people using grub control. If anything, that would selectively breed them so the controls are less effective. Here there are lots of landscape companies out there. I'd bet they apply grub control every year.

Better water control will discourage grubs. If people don't water their lawns as much there will be fewer grubs.

Speaking of grubs, earlier this afternoon I saw a small wave of blue-winged Japanese wasps foraging/digging in a lawn full of grubs as a part of their reproductive cycle.

If you don't know the specie they locate the shallow beetle grubs thru some excavation, sting them to immobilize them and lay their eggs close for them to feed upon the grubs when the wasp eggs develop into the larvae stage.

Maybe you have a large cycle population of blue winged wasps this year. They were hammering the grubs the last week here in many areas. Don't need Diazinon if you have a good population of these insects.

Thanks Bob, now I know what those "pretty blue insects" are called. Sometimes I feel like I'm walking through life with my head in

the clouds. It's a shame that just about the time we actually know a thing or two, our life is pretty much over. Oh well, at least

guys like us really get to appreciate more than most and enjoy the journey.

You certainly couldn't have explained my life any better than that as of the last couple of years.

Bob, I saw something today I've never seen before. I group of seven or eight geese on a newly dug pond next to some model homes that

my kids were looking at. Some of them would flip over backward completely and if their legs weren't kicking like crazy, you would

swear they were dead. I did not know that geese could swim under water for 14 or 15 yards. Three or four would dive at the same time

and you could tell by all the mud they kicked up that they were swimming along the bottom. They would chase each other and dive like

a bunch of kids playing. They were all fully feathered so they were adults. Whatever was in that water, I could sure use some of it.

We have a similar wasp here in STX called a Cicada Killer Wasp that does the same as your BWJ Wasp except it only hunts Cicadas (Locusts) but digs a den to stash them beforehand. The female wasp is larger than the male and does all the work of digging out the den and hunting her prey. I've had quite a handful of calls from customers lately complaining of gopher/mole mounds in their yards. The smaller mounds with an opening to their dens along with the channel leading to the opening (dug by the wasp to facilitate dragging in the heavier cicada) makes for an easy ID and a chance to educate the homeowner.

Yes we have those here also. Had a call a few years back at a resort that had a sand/dirt tennis court playing surface that had become a popular cicada killer resort area as well. I suppose due to the easy digging in the sand loam dirt.. There were literally hundreds of burrows of the solitary insect. I didn't really want to treat them as they are not aggressive at all in my experience.

However, the management of the resort had other wishes on their minds. I had never up to that point, seen that many congregated in that close proximity. I have seen several to maybe a dozen. But these were like a prairie dog town. They were all attracted to the same place most likely due to the conditions and location near a good food source.

They are a very interesting creature and very selective in their food preferences. I bet they could deliver a good sting if they had a mind to do so.

They look like miniature groundhog burrows. We have had calls that folks thought they were mole mounds in a few cases.

I usually suggest habitat modifications to get rid of the problem. Watering and adding organic matter to hold .posture in the soil will move them out. They want a specific habitat. Change it so its not ideal.

In the case of the resort there probably wasn't a lot they could do with habitat modification. The base of the tennis court was a sand dirt composite that they maintained by rolling as needed. They wanted an organic playing area to fit in with the theme of the resort at that particular place.

The other places we have had calls were in the fringes of gardens, flower beds and a few were just in what I would deem ordinary lawns. Some were where we had done mole work prior so it was a natural assumption that it may be mole activity once again.

We don't get many calls for cicada killers and in most cases don't recommend any treatment. It is a matter of educating the public to their benefit in the big scheme of things.