As some of you may know, I work for King GREEN lawn care. Although I mainly deal with accounts receivable/collections, I also help with customer service. Within the past two weeks we've been bombarded with phone calls about armyworms. The armyworm is the caterpillar stage of a moth that primarily feeds on bermuda turfgrass. They appear when temperatures are dry and warm and are not as active during the day, but could still be visible to the naked eye if the lawn has a bad enough infestation. Sometimes if there are many armyworms in the lawn, the grass will appar to 'move'. Armyworms range from 1/2" - 1.5" in length and start off light green with stripes on their side and they darken as they age. One way to see if your lawn has armyworms is to mix 1/2oz dish soap with 1 gallon of water and pour it onto a section of your lawn, this soapy mix will draw the armyworms to the surface of the grass.
It is highly recommended that you treat your lawn with an insecticide, such as Sevin. While established bermuda lawns will not be 'killed' by armyworms, it can turn the lawn brown. Once the armyworms are gone the lawn will recover in approx 2-3 weeks. Newly sodded lawns will most likely suffer much worse. If you don't have a lawn care company and are interested in treating it yourself, you can purchase 'Sevin' at Home Depot and/or Lowe's and apply it to the lawn. It's recommended not to mow the lawn for 2-3 days after the application.
Lastly, it is possible the armyworms could return if the weather persists and if your neighbor(s) have armyworms but don't do anything about them.
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