Tuff shredding critters want your chafer beetles
The chafer beetle has ravaged lawns throughout Delta this year. Usually its newly seeded lawns or fresh tuff that fall victim to raccoons, skunks and crows searching for beetle larvae to feed on. The life cycle of the chafer beetle is such that from late June until early July they are underground as larvae, and only emerge in late July as adults. They have a very short life span of a few weeks as adults, before laying their eggs and dying in July. The only time to take action against the beetle is during mid-July to early August when the larvae are at their most vulnerable stage. There are several treatment options which have their positives and negatives. These options are preventative in nature.
There are four options to preventing the chafer beetle from attracting the tuff shredding critters. The three chemicals that can be added to the soil include: Merit, Adonis and Liquid 7. These chemicals have a window of opportunity that is specific to late spring, early summer. All the chemicals have certain warnings that need to be adhered to. Then there are nematodes, these microscopic round worms are sprayed over the lawn in the third and fourth weeks of July. These live organisms seek out and hunt chafer beetles, eating the larvae from the inside. These microorganisms pose no danger to humans, other animals or other species of beneficial insects. They stay in the soil for several weeks, before they themselves die off.
http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/deltabc-1.983313/blog-tuff-shredding-critters-want-your-chafer-beetles-1.2037005
