Mercer's Lawn Service Division

Lawn Care:

• Insect Control to kill all unwanted insects in your lawn
  
• Herbicide aplication for common and hard to control weeds 
• Fungicide application
• Fertilizer applications, 4 to 6 times per year, both liquid and dry
• Application of Micro Nutrients, for the health of your lawn 

Pest Control Services:
We treat a variety of Florida lawn pests.  We would be very happy to schedule an inspection to determine the proper treatment or prevention program for your lawn.

Below we have listed some of the most common pests found in our area. 

If you have seen these pests or the damage caused by these pests in your lawn, seek professional help before there is serious damage.

Chinch Bugs

Sucks sap from plants from root to uppermost leaves, causing dwarfing, lodging, and yield reduction. 

Sod webworms

The most common lawn caterpillar in our area is the tropical sod webworm.  Larvae cut off blades of grass near thatch line, pull them into tunnels to feed, causing small brown patches. Eggs are deposited on the grass blades and hatch in about 1 week. Larvae feed on the grass blades and within 3 weeks can cause extensive damage. Damaged grass blades appear notched on sides and are chewed raggedly. Irregular brown spots are the first signs of damage. 

Fire Ant

Fire ants are very aggressive!  Their sting can cause allergic reactions. The colonies can reach upwards of 500,000.

Fleas

Fleas will bite humans! The bite will often leave a small, red, irritated area on humans. 

Ticks

These blood-suckers can be a stubborn pest to eliminate if given a chance to take hold. Most ticks spend their life on or near the ground, waiting for a host.  Most ticks will feed on blood from a wide variety of animals. 
Certain ticks carry diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, typhus, rickettsial pox, relapsing fever, tularemia, Colorado tick fever and Texas cattle fever.  Another health threat posed by certain ticks attacking humans and other animals involves a poorly understood condition called "tick paralysis." 

Deer Ticks

Deer ticks feed mostly on deer, cattle, and other large animals, but they will feed on people when they get a chance.  They inflict a painful bite. Deer ticks can also carry Lyme disease. 

Does your lawn have dead brown patches?
Possible problem:
JAPANESE BEETLE

Larvae consume roots, you must seek professional treatment in order to regain control over your lawn.  

Does your lawn have wilted, dead or dying grass?
Possible problems:
White Grubs

Grubs hatch and spend most of their life beneath the soil feeding on underground plant parts. They have long life cycles lasting from several months to two or three years. Grubs destroy the roots, and leave the tops of your grass to wither and die. 

Bill bugs 

Bill bugs have a pair of jaws at the tip of a long snout which resembles a bill.  Their hatching larvae feed within the stems, the  larger larvae feed on the crown and the  mature larvae feed on the roots of the turf. 

Mole Crickets

Mole crickets lay eggs in underground cells in the spring. The eggs hatch in 2 to 4 weeks. Nymphs feed and grow through the summer, and become adults in the fall.  They spend the winter deep in the soil but come to the surface to feed during warm periods.  The most damaging species of mole crickets feed on grass beneath the soil's surface.  Both young and adults burrow beneath the soil and make small tunnels.  Mole crickets will build up in an area and completely destroy the grass, leaving bare ground if left untreated.

Does your lawn have irregular spots of yellowish turf and dead spots?
Possible problem:
Spittle bug 

Orange colored eggs are deposited in bits of hollow stems and other debris. Nymphs hatch in about two weeks and begin to feed by sucking juices from the grass. They cover themselves with a frothy mass known as spittle.

Does the grass in your lawn appear to be cut off close to the ground?
Possible problems:
LAWN CATERPILLARS 
Several kinds of lawn caterpillars including sod web worms, army worms, cutworms and grass loopers may cause damage to all turfgrass.
Armyworms

Damaged turf appears ragged with individual blades showing signs of chewing damage. When numerous, they may devour the grass down to the ground. 

Cutworms

Foliage or stems may be cut off. 

Other Lawn Pests

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants can sometimes cause more damage to structures than termites.  They are difficult insects to control and can cause extensive damage to wood in a fairly short period of time.  Carpenter ants do not actually eat wood but excavate nesting sites. 
The most common way in which homes become infested is through emigration of an existing colony.  Houses located near wooded areas or brush covered vacant lots are good candidates for infestation.  Carpenter ant colonies are inclined to move if they are disturbed, as often happens during construction.  Thus, new homes or those surrounding a new building lot present likely locations for attack.  They rarely cause structural damage to buildings. Most  damage is cosmetic. 

Large Cockroach (Palmetto)

The nymphs have broad yellow bands on the top of the thorax. This cockroach is commonly found in leaf mulch, wood piles and under rotting logs. 

Scorpions

They have four pairs of legs. They also have a stinger at the tip of the tail, which has six segments. The stinger can cause a painful sting. Scorpions usually are found outdoors under logs and debris. 

 Contact Us - Do not delay - Set up a consultation today!