Tag Archives: Grubs

Grubs are the common name for any larvae of insects or beetles which are found in lawns. They can cause damage to a lawn and it is a good idea to positively identify which grub you may have in your lawn before deciding on a course of action.

Grubs in lawns

The most common larvae found in lawns in the UK are chafer grubs. These are the young of chafer beetles. On their own they don’t tend to do a lot of damage. However in large numbers they can be devastating. Lawns can literally be pulled up like a carpet.

Other types in lawns include leatherjackets, which are the larvae of crane flys. These can also be very damaging to lawns.

Find out more about theses critters in your lawns in these blog posts.

Question: Crane flies for ten years

I received this interesting question in August 2020 about crane flies attacking a lawn year after year. “We’ve had leatherjackets now for ten plus years, gradually getting worse every year. We were of the understanding that crane flies return to where they were larvae.” This is an interesting question about crane flies. Find out more about them and if they return.

Leatherjackets in your lawn? Follow these steps …

The spring of 2020 has seen a huge rise in the number of leatherjackets infecting lawns. Two mild winters and a damp summer combined with the eradication of any controls has resulted in an explosion in numbers of the insects. If your lawn looks to be suffering, have a dig around, you may find the culprit. So what do you do if you find leatherjackets in your lawn?

Video: Digging for leatherjackets in a lawn

The winter of 2018-2019 saw a large number of lawns devastated by leatherjackets. These grubs live in the soil, just under the surface of a lawn. They are the larval stage of crane flies (tipulidae). Eggs laid by the adults in the summer months. They hatch and the grubs then spend the winter days munching through grass plants,… Read More »