Masked Chafer

An adult Masked Chafer can be identified by its dull, dark shade of yellow or ocher. Its key identifying feature is a dark brownish-black band connecting the eyes that makes it look like this lawn pest is wearing a mask. There are four different species of this lawn-damaging insect, determined by geography: Northern, Southern, Southwestern and Western. There are some key differences between the four species. For instance, hairs cover the thorax and wing covers of the Northern species, whereas hairs are sparse on the Southern species of this lawn pest. However, there are some similarities—the raster pattern on the grubs is irregular on both the Northern and Southern species so the only way to distinguish between these two species with certainty is to dissect the mouth parts. Most importantly, the Southwestern and Western species are far less common and rarely present a problem in lawns.