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If your grass is no longer looking green and lush, with dry and straw-like patches, you may be dealing with a black lawn beetle infestation. While black beetles themselves don’t typically do much damage in your garden, their larvae can cause damage to your lawn.
In fact, many of Australia’s most popular turf varieties, including Buffalo grass, Couch and Kikuyu are susceptible to the infestation of garden pests, including lawn beetles and army worms.
So, here’s how to identify whether your lawn is affected by the presence of black beetles and how to effectively rid your lawn of the pests.
What are lawn beetles?
There are all kinds of different beetles you can find on your lawn. But the African Black Beetle (Heteronychus arator) is one of the most common species known to cause lawn damage in Australia after laying eggs in the soil, which hatch into larvae or black beetle grubs that feed on the roots and cause visible damage to your lawn.
How to identify African Black Beetles in a lawn
You may begin to suspect your lawn is infested with black beetles if it appears dry, straw-like and has yellow or brown patches.
A simple way to find out if your lawn is affected by black beetle is to grab a bucket of soapy water and pour it onto the grass. Any bugs, if present, will float to the surface. Seeing a few beetles on your lawn could be fine, but if you get more than 20 bugs, this could be an indication of a larger problem.
Another way to detect the presence of black beetles is to place a moistened square of carpet on top of the soil. After a day or so, any adult black beetles will have congregated underneath the carpet.
African Black Beetles are typically up to 15mm long and have shiny, hard shells. But they’re not the only lawn beetles or grubs that can cause damage. So if you find other beetles or grubs after trying these approaches, it’s worth identifying them separately to decide how to treat the issue.
How to get rid of black lawn beetle infestations
There are a number of natural ways to get the population of black beetles down to a more manageable level. When you’re out and about in the garden, keep your eyes peeled for beetles and larvae in the soil. Carefully remove them from the soil and place both the beetles and the larvae into a bucket of soapy water.
Backyard hens are also great at keeping black beetle infestations at bay. Chooks can’t resist the tasty beetles, so giving them free roam of the yard will benefit both your lawn and your hens. If you don’t have any backyard hens, neighbourhood birds could also enjoy foraging for them. Till the affected soil regularly to bring the beetles and larvae to the surface. Hungry birds are sure to descend upon the free feast.
Pesticides are only recommended as a last resort. Speak to a horticulturalist at your local nursery to find out which products are best for your lawn.
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