White moths on lawn (house, live, moving)

[PinkLadyK]

txdemo - how is the lawn? I just noticed they have moved into my backyard too, now, so I need to do something. Just trying to figure out if I should spray myself or just call someone. Thanks.

[marksmu]

If you do not want to go organic just buy the Spectracide brand Triazicide insect killer....hook it to your hose and spray your yard. It kills on contact.

To break the egg/larve cycle follow it up with another treatment in 7-10 days. I prefer to use the granular for the second treatment. Its faster.

Its a good time to do this anyway as the grubs are about to become very active, and if you have grubs, they kill the yard faster than anything else. The granular has a longer lasting residual. If you get a heavy rain within 36 hours of application you should reapply.

I had these dang moths bad...one day none, the next day thousands....Its taken about 10 days, but I believe the problem is under control now.

[hendersj31]

I spoke to my neighborhoods pest guy last night about this. He recommends Talstar granules as it can work its way down where the larvae and worms burrow.
Once that is watered in a topical spray with permethian will help with the moths. It is important to focus on any shrubs or ground cover as that is where the moths will hang out when not hovering over your lawn laying eggs.
He also mentioned they are very hard to get rid of and the moths will come back especially if your neighbors have them.

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by PinkLadyK

txdemo - how is the lawn? I just noticed they have moved into my backyard too, now, so I need to do something. Just trying to figure out if I should spray myself or just call someone. Thanks.

No luck with one application of Thuricide. I've been waiting to do a second application because its been threatening to rain for a few days.

I'd recommend going to Solutions if you don't mind using pesticides. I'm considering using the pesticides on the front lawn and the Thuricide in the back.

Or, may just let them take over since they don't actually kill the grass and it will come back next Spring.

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by txdemo

No luck with one application of Thuricide. I've been waiting to do a second application because its been threatening to rain for a few days.

I'd recommend going to Solutions if you don't mind using pesticides. I'm considering using the pesticides on the front lawn and the Thuricide in the back.

Or, may just let them take over since they don't actually kill the grass and it will come back next Spring.

I would not let them take over as they do sufficient damage to the grass to allow other diseases and insects such as brown spot, chinch bugs, grubs, etc to do the final damage and kill the yard off.

The pesticides I mentioned are working on my yard, but much of the damage is done.

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by marksmu

I would not let them take over as they do sufficient damage to the grass to allow other diseases and insects such as brown spot, chinch bugs, grubs, etc to do the final damage and kill the yard off.

The pesticides I mentioned are working on my yard, but much of the damage is done.

I didn't think of that. Thanks for the advice.

[houston-nomad]

I hate putting chemicals on my lawn, but in this case, there's no getting around the fact that the goal is to kill a whole lotta bugs. I guess I have to go nuclear with apologies to the rest of the food chain... I saw wasps digging up the little worms and eating them (gross but interesting), and a toad hopping along on the grass... I really do feel badly about these other animals, and maybe I'll start thinking about replacing more of the lawn with other plants, but without thousands of dollars to invest in landscaping at the moment, it's time to fix my lawn!

[PinkLadyK]

We have about a hundred geckos living in our backyard. Is this gonna kill them?

[hendersj31]

I have so many lizards in my yard too. I can only assume they are drawn to the moths but am not going t wait and find out. I had my lawn treated.

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by PinkLadyK

We have about a hundred geckos living in our backyard. Is this gonna kill them?

We have a BUNCH of lizards but they hang out in the garden and they don't traipse around the lawn. I'm going to treat the lawn with the bad stuff and cross my fingers.