The Ohio State University

Home TurfNotes With the arrival of warmer weather, spring "turf activity" is increasing. This past weekend some West Virginia superintendents noticed black turfgrass ataenius (BTA) moving around on some of their putting greens...When daytime temperatures reach into the 70's (F) the adults begin to move from wood lots to turf looking for places to lay their eggs. BTA adults are small beetles less than 0.25 inches in length with a shiny jet black appearance. As a phenological indicator egg laying does not begin until the Vahoutte (photograph to the left) or birdalveil spireas are in full bloom.

From a pest management perspective we still suggest adulticiding treatments (one of the pyrethroids like: bifenthrin - Talstar®, lambda-cyhalothrin - Scimitar®, deltamethrin - DeltaGuard®, or beta-cyfluthrin - Tempo Ultra®; and of course Dursban) when Vanhoutte or Bridalveil spireas are in full bloom.

A second strategy would be to use one of the registered neonicitinoids (Merit®, Meridian®, Arena® or Aloft®) in mid-May at the full grub rate. This treatment will take out the first generation of BTA and have enough residual to knock out the annual white grubs that arrive in July. In West Virginia, if green June Beetles are a problem, a second application of Sevin may be needed as early neonicitinoid applications don't seem to affect the grubs of this species.

As a compliment to this posting, a BTA podcast is available.
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For other podcasts visit Buckeye Turf Podcasts

Posted by David Shetlar