Understanding the varying life cycles of lawn bugs, like how they grow and develop, is the key to controlling them before they cause damage to your lawn. Lawn-destroying insects all start as eggs, but different species vary in how often they go through metamorphosis—when they shed their exoskeletons to form larger ones. External forces such as soil and air temperature further affect metamorphosis. For lawn-damaging insects, there are two significant kinds of metamorphosis:
Complete Metamorphosis
Two prime examples are beetles, which begin life as grubs, and moths, which begin as caterpillars. Other common lawn insects of this type include Sod Webworms, Cutworms and White Grub species such as the Japanese Beetle, Oriental Beetle, Masked Chafer and Sugar Cane. These insects have four distinct life stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.
- Larvae: Insect larvae look very different in form and shape than adults. They damage turf grass the most as they feed, grow and molt.
- Pupae: Larvae transform into pupae and then don’t move or feed. They hide in protected, secluded spaces as they transform into adults.
- Adults: When fully mature, adults emerge from pupal casings and lay eggs of their own.
Incomplete Metamorphosis
Insects that undergo incomplete metamorphosis, such as the chinch bug and mole cricket, continuously increase their populations. They can reach turf grass-damaging levels quickly, so routine scouting, early identification and rapid response control are essential to preserving your lawn’s health. These insects have only three life stages: egg, nymph and adult.
- Nymphs: These are immature adults and resemble adults from the beginning—however, they are smaller in size and sometimes color. Nymphs molt and grow many times. At each molt, a nymph’s wing buds grow more and more pronounced.
- Adults: Once the nymphs are fully winged, they are sexually mature adults. Nymphs and adults feed on the same host together for their entire life cycles
These lawn pests can be controlled as nymphs or adults, but not as eggs.