Florida’s Top 5 Lawn Pests
By Westfall’s Lawn and Pest Control
Ah, Florida. The sunshine, the beaches, the endless summer—and the relentless, uninvited squatters turning your lush green lawn into their personal buffet. We’re talking about lawn pests. Not the nosy neighbor who critiques your edging technique (we’ll deal with him another time), but the actual critters chomping, tunneling, and partying like it’s Spring Break on your turf.
Here are the top 5 lawn pests in Manatee and Sarasota counties—ranked by how badly they ruin your grass and your mood.
1. Chinch Bugs: The Vampire Jerks of St. Augustine Grass
Tiny but mighty (annoying), chinch bugs love St. Augustine grass like your grandma loves Bingo. They suck the sap from your grass and inject it with a toxic enzyme that basically gives your lawn a bad case of the brown uglies.
Signs you’ve got ‘em:
Patches of dead grass that look like a sunburnt toupee.
The neighbors giving your lawn the side-eye.
Our solution: Professional treatment, because no DIY concoction made from dish soap and desperation is going to fix this mess.
2. Mole Crickets: The Underground Wrestling Champions
Imagine if Edward Scissorhands and a cricket had a love child—and then it started training for a dirt-digging championship. That’s the mole cricket. These sneaky pests tunnel just under the surface, destroying roots and loosening the soil like they’re prepping for a sandcastle contest.
How you know they’re around:
Spongy soil.
Grass that pulls up easier than a bad rug.
Random divots like a tiny golf course designed by squirrels.
3. Sod Webworms: The Midnight Munchies Bandits
Sod webworms are the rebellious teenagers of the pest world. They come out at night, eat everything in sight, and leave a mess behind for you to deal with in the morning.
They leave behind:
Ragged patches of lawn.
Tiny green pellets (a.k.a. webworm poop).
A general sense of lawn-based betrayal.
What we do: Nocturnal buffet crashers? No problem. We serve up treatment that says, “This lawn’s closed, pal.”
4. Fire Ants: The Fiery Freeloaders
You thought your lawn was for BBQs and barefoot strolls? Think again. Fire ants treat your lawn like an Airbnb, complete with underground bunkers and aggressive eviction policies—especially if you step too close.
Symptoms: Dirt mounds, sudden burning pain in your foot, and the urge to scream “Why?!”
Our Strategy: Our fire ant treatments go deep into the colony and shut it down like a surprise tax audit. You get your yard back, and your feet can finally stop living in fear.
5. Grubs: The Chubby Root-Chompers
Grubs are the adorable, fat little larvae of beetles who hate your lawn with the intensity of a toddler hating bedtime. They feast on grassroots, leaving behind a brown wasteland and an open invite for raccoons, armadillos, and other lawn-flipping freeloaders.
Tell-tale signs:
Brown patches that spread like gossip.
Turf rolls up like a bad carpet.
Your yard starts attracting local wildlife like it’s an animal Airbnb.
Westfall's fix: Strategic treatments to stop them from turning your grass into an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Final Thoughts: Call Us Before You Call It Quits
At Westfall’s Lawn and Pest Control, we’ve seen it all. Your lawn doesn’t need to suffer a slow and crunchy death. Whether you’re battling bugs, beasts, or just bad luck, we’re here to help.
We use smart, safe, and serious solutions—with a sprinkle of sarcasm and a whole lot of science. Let’s kick those pests out before they put up a mailbox and start forwarding their mail.
Call Westfall’s. Your lawn will thank you. (If it could talk, it’d be crying right now.)