BELL COUNTY, Texas — It might be time to declare war on a pest in your yard and pastures before it declares war on you! It's fall armyworm season and once those invaders take over... it's hard to stop them.
The fall armyworm, which is actually a caterpillar, makes an appearance every year. However, this year has a chance to be especially problematic.
"Everything is just right for the armyworm infestation to become really, really bad," said Floyd Ingram, the Bell County agriculture extension agent. "Cool, wet spring that we had leading into a very mild summer that's been fairly wet as well. We're just now getting really hot and kind of dry and we could see some more rains as we get on into September and into the fall as well. So everything lines up that it could be bad, but we'll see."
Ingram said the last couple weeks of August will be the most telling, but he wants Texans to know that it is possible to get ahead of the worms before complete devastation.
The caterpillar's eating habits is what makes it so destructive, especially if they're not treated. One of their most distinct signs of being present is brown and dry patches of grass.
"In the last five days of their life, these worms will eat 80 percent of what they'll eat their entire lifetime," Ingram explained. "That's from when they're an inch to an inch and a half and so if you can catch them before that, you're really reducing the amount that they're able to destroy in your pasture."
Ingram said the invaders like bermuda grass, but they'll eat different kinds of grasses, even native grasses. They will even eat turf grass as well.
Videos on Facebook show that the fall armyworm has already taking over yards in north Texas. There have also been some reports of the fall armyworm in McLennan County.
"If they're in McLennan County, the likelihood is they're going to start showing up here anytime," Ingram said about Bell County. "I still think we're ahead of it."
Preparation time is the most important step when it comes to the pest, and knowing when to treat it. First, you must know what they look like as there are many caterpillars.
Fall armyworms will have an upside down inverted "Y" on their head. When bigger, they will also have black raised spots in a rectangular pattern on their backs.
For those with pastures, here is what Ingram said is your best bet in finding the crawlers and figuring out when to treat.
"Thresholds for fall armyworms is two worms that are 1/2 inch or longer with a sweep of a sweep net," Ingram added. "If you get that in one sweep of a sweep net, then you know it's probably time to treat."
For homeowners -- you'll be able to see the caterpillars in your yard or the holes that they leave in the leaf structure. Those holes will give a window pane effect.
"As a homeowner, there's not as many products that you can use to treat as you can put in the pasture type of a situation," Ingram explained. "A lot of the products are restricted, but the main product, the active ingredient and the main products that we use is a pyrethroid."
If you have any questions about how to treat fall armyworms, you are urged to call your county agrilife extension office.
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