When you see lots of flies hovering over the grass of your beloved lawn, you keep wondering what are the flying bugs in my lawn? Are they doing any harm?
No! There are lots of good bugs and you should not bother them. They bring a lot of benefits to your garden.
Yes, when your lawn is full of flies, some of them are bad for your lawn. But if you try to kill them, you may end up killing a lot of good bugs as well.
I personally prefer nature to deal with this. However, you should have a clear idea of all such lawn bugs that they can do to your lawn.
What Are The Flying Bugs In My Lawn?
Though lawn gnats or flies like crane fly are not a direct threat for your lawn or yourself because they don’t bite, they can create a nuisance for yourself and hamper your outdoor time. Some of them do true damage too.
Before I tell you what to do about it, you should know their kinds first. You will have some cool tips on how to control them as well. Here are the most common lawn bugs:
- Lawn Gnats
They look like little mosquitos and harmless but with enough time they can damage the root of your grass. There are some steps that you can take to control them. First of all, they like the scent of vinegar and you can use it as a trap.
Create a solution of dish soap and vinegar and place it on your lawn. The odor of the vinegar will attract and the glue will trap them. Keeping the planting beds dry and regular mowing can discourage them to invade your lawn as well.
- Boxelder Bugs
Though their favorite place to live is boxelder trees, you can find them in your garden too. They are real escape artists which make it hard to control them. You can find a great result in applying the shop vac.
However, it is recommended that you take professional help from exterminator specialists if things go beyond your control.
- Japanese/Asian Beetles
They look like ladybugs but the only difference is they can do harm to your lawn if left unchecked. I feel disturbed when I see them on my lawn or home.
Yes, they invade your home and thus your mental peace too! Luckily you can use glue traps to control them easily. You can try shop vac too to suck up to them.
- Billbugs
If you have Zoysia grass in your lawn and the billbugs invade, you are in real trouble. In case you don’t know, billbugs are a special type of weevil that can damage the leaves severely.
If you know how to get rid of weevil, you already know how to control billbugs. If you don’t know, try traditional spray pesticides to control them.
- Grubs
Another harmful bug for your garden. Grubs can bring total damage to your lawn grass and vegetable gardens. They live under the soil and feed on the tender roots of the grass. Ultimately your grass will die!
- Chiggers
1They are attracted to the wet lawn. So, for some reason, if the soil of your lawn kept wet, chiggers will definitely invade you.
And the real trouble is they are so tiny that it’s very difficult to understand whether they have already infested your lawn or not.
Apart from damaging the grass of your lawn, they can cause serious itching problems for humans as well. The best way to control such bugs is to mow your lawn short.
- Earwigs
Apart from creating a nuisance, they are not a serious threat to your garden. But they will invade your lawn if there are any lawn clippings. You can find earwig traps in any local garden centers to fight the invasion.
- Cutworms
Also known as moth caterpillars and they are a real danger for your lawn and vegetable garden. They love bentgrass, Bermuda grass, and ryegrass. It takes a very short period of time to do serious damage to your lawn; so you have to act fast!
The only solution is to sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth (DE) that will kill them and prevent the renewed attacks from their next generation.
- Chinch Bugs
In your lawn, if there are zoysia, Bermuda, or Centipede grass; you should not be worried about such bugs. Because they mainly feed on St. Augustine Grass.
- Leafhoppers
Bad bugs for your lawn and if you don’t act they will damage your garden and lawn. They drain the sap from your lawn’s leaves and grass. You can try to spray pesticides and sticky traps to control leafhoppers.
- Fleas
Very common for lawn and home. They are not any trouble for your lawn but will eventually invade your pets and home; so you should take control measures for fleas. Any flea sprayers should do the job. However, the real challenge is to prevent future invasions.
You can discourage them from keeping cedar mulch on the lawn and around your home.
- Mole Crickets
Their looks make my skin crawl and it is very hard to eliminate them from your lawn once invaded. Not just their terrible looks, they can do serious damage to your lawn too.
They feed on lawn grass and other helpful organic materials from the lawn. You can get a satisfactory result with granules and traps.
- Armyworms
There is a pretty good reason why they are called armyworms. They keep chewing on the grass leaves until it the grass falls on the ground. Very detrimental for your lawn!
- Lawn Moths
Lawn moths have their different kinds of their own and not all moths are bad for your lawn or garden like the webworm moth.
However, caterpillar types can do serious harm. If there are cabbage or brassica plants in your lawn, you are in serious trouble.
Preventing or getting rid of such lawn moths is easy. Moths hate the aroma of Tashkent (Known as French Marigolds). Plant some Tashkent in your lawn to make it unappealing for the lawn.
- Wasps & Hornets
Okay, they are not a direct threat to the health of your lawn and garden but you do not want them anywhere nearby the lawn or your home.
I don’t need to remind you of the serious pain you may experience if you abruptly disrupt them. The only good option you have is to call a professional exterminator to get rid of wasp and hornet nests.
- Bees
Both honeybees and bumblebees bring a wide range of benefits to your lawn and garden. But if they build their nests in an inconvenient place, you should call a professional exterminator to deal with it.
Just like wasp and hornets, such bees may cause serious pain.
- Millipedes & Centipedes
Your lawn is totally safe from them because they don’t eat fresh grass. They feed on decaying plants only; so you should not be too worried about them.
- Annoying Mosquitos
They are not harmful to your lawn but very annoying and dangerous for your family members and pets. Don’t forget, mosquitos carry some deadliest viruses. They live in your lawn and garden and feed on you!
How To Get Rid Of Flying Bugs In Your Lawn?
There are a lot of ways you can deal with the bug invasion. If you want to deal with these swarm of flying insects in yard by yourself without the help of a professional exterminator, you should try only the natural methods.
If you know how to get rid of rust from your lawn, you may already know what to do. There are some biological and chemical methods as well, and I will take about them as well.
- By Natural Predators
As a natural preventive measure, you should have insect killers like praying mantis. They feed on other insects and black & white flying bugs. You can buy their eggs online and keep the eggs in a warm place. Within 6 weeks, they should hatch.
Put them in your lawn and if you are lucky they will stick to the lawn. During the entire summer, they will keep terminating all sorts of insects and eventually die in the winter.
You can do the same with lacewings too and find them online. Both mantis and lacewings are voracious but they won’t bite you or your pets. I would get rid of little white flying bugs in my grass using mantis if I were you.
- By Cultural Control
Get rid of the nearby water sources and damp vegetation to control flying and other types of bugs. Never keep your lawn wet all the time. Overwatering your lawn will make a great living place for insects you don’t want.
Empty any containers that have water in it. That way all the breeding places will be destroyed for little white flying bugs in the grass and other bugs.
- By Bacteria & Biological Control Methods
You can buy Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis (BTI) to control all of such flying bugs and other insects. They are soil-borne bacteria and kills the larvae of all such bugs but do no harm to you or your pets. Read the instructions first before you apply them to your lawn.
As for biological control, you can spray your lawn a solution made of predaceous nematodes. This also keeps the fungus bugs in control. However, if you are not sure or lack the required confidence, get professional help!
- By Traditional Pesticides
You can apply traditional pyrethroid-based pesticides to have quick results. The spray will kill any flying bugs that may come into contact. The problem is the spray will kill all the beneficial bugs too.
- By Physical Controls
There are several items or processes that you can do to make sure there are no swarm of flying insects in yard or any bugs on your place.
So, instead of wondering why is my lawn full of flies, here are the things you can physically do in your place to keep harmful bugs away.
- Covering Drain Holes
Now, this one is tricky for you because you surely need the drain holes to pass the water from your lawn. But this also opens up the possibility for bugs to lay eggs on that water.
So, you will have to cover the drain holes so that water can pass through, but bugs won’t have access to that water.
To do that, you can use a synthetic fabric and attach it to the drain hole with a rubber band. It will let the water pass through without giving any room for the black bugs flying over grass to lay eggs there.
- Potato Slices
If you have any issues with bug larvae in your backyard, using potato slices can greatly benefit your needs. Keep some potato slices on your potting media surface.
After 4 hours, all the larvae should keep going into the potato; once they go into it, you can remove the potato from the media. You may need to do this several times to get rid of most of the larvae.
- Vinegar
Unlike the previous one, if you have issues with adult bugs, then vinegar can be your best bet out of it. Just fill a jar with apple cider vinegar along with some dish soap on it.
Then put the lids on and create some holes on the lid so the bugs can enter the jar.
Gnats in grass like the smell of vinegar, so they are tempted to go inside the jar. As soon as you have captured some bugs, you can remove the jar from the place. This also works with beer instead of vinegar.
- Sand
Usually, bugs like to lay eggs on the upper part of the moist soil. So, if you put an extra layer of sand to keep the moist soil unexposed, you can stop the bugs from laying their eggs.
Create a layer of half-inch sand on top of the moist soil, and you will see a significant change in the larvae control of black bugs flying over grass. This is a very effective method, and it doesn’t require too much work either.
- Sticky Traps
Aside from all that, you can also try making a trap yourself. Get some yellow cardstocks and spread some Vaseline on them. Then place the cards on the potting media surface.
This will eventually catch the bugs flying around and help you control them without using too much of anything. However, you may need to keep up with the cards and see if they are still sticky and effective or not.
Now, aside from all these, there are several other things you can do and use, such as using flypaper ribbon or mineralized fossil.
These can also help you in getting rid of bugs and larvae. At least you can have much more control over the bugs and have time to get rid of them.
Conclusion
Still wondering what are the flying bugs in your lawn? You have just learned about almost every bug that you may find in your lawn and garden. Again, not all of them are harmful.
If you try to get rid of such bugs yourself without much care, you may end up destroying the beneficial bugs as well.
So, I strongly recommend hiring any professional exterminator in such a case. Now, watch the video on getting rid of lawn gnats.
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