Protect your lawn against black beetles before they take over!
Stop African Black Beetles in their tracks
We’ve all seen these little shiny black beetles either flying or crawling around the place in summer time. You wouldn’t think that they would do too much damage to the lawn, would you? Well at that stage of their life-cycle they don’t, it’s the root-feeding larvae that does all the damage. The trick is to understand how their life-cycle works & when, as well as how to treat them so they don’t munch on your lawn.
Life-cycle of an African Black Beetle
The adults are very active during the warmer months of spring & Summer are attracted to bright lights at night, so it makes sense that this is where they would be in larger numbers. As the temperatures cool, the beetles burrow deep in the soil & remain dormant during winter. As the soil temps rise in spring to early-summer, they wake-up & start laying their eggs. The eggs hatch between 2 – 5 weeks & go through 3 stages of larvae. It’s the last stage, where they’re around 25mm long, that they do the most damage, seeking out anything to feed on, and what better tucker than nice juicy grass-roots! After this they go to pupae stage, where they don’t do any damage, then onto an adult. This life-cycle takes around 2 months or so & finishes in late-summer to early-autumn.
When to treat your lawn against African Black Beetles
So now we know when they do their best (or worst) work & that we need to protect our lawns against the later larvae stage which is ANY TIME during the warmer months, so ideally BEFORE they get hungry. If you wait until they’ve started feeding, the roots of your lawn are already being attacked & then you have to stop their progress & nurse your lawn back to health.
Most effective lawn treatments
My very best advice & the turf-industry standard advice, is to apply a pre-emergent insecticide. This is exactly as it sounds – a product that preventatively treats the pest BEFORE it becomes a problem. I recommend using Acelepryn GR. This product will give your lawn approx. 6 months protection against emerging larvae. It’s in a convenient granular form that you spread out then water-in. Once its watered-in to the soil profile, it forms the protective barrier we’re after.
Where to buy
We always have plenty of Acelepryn GR in stock, as well as all variety of spreaders depending on the size of your lawns. We will soon have our online store up and running and you'll be able to order and have products delivered to you anywhere in Australia. In the meantime, drop in to our new store at Unit 1, 21 Shearwater Drive Taylors Beach NSW 2315. Or call us on 0402 452 376.