How To Tell If You Have Lawn Mites

Need assistance identifying lawn mites? Numerous lawn pests can invade your lawn and do some serious damage. Knowing what lawn pest has attacked your lawn will keep you ahead of the game when dealing with these uninvited guests.

If you suspect you have a mite problem on your lawn, Don’t worry, you are in the right place. You will learn how to tell if you have lawn mites and all you need to know about lawn mites.

As the saying goes,” big problems often come in petite and small sizes” they start small and often end up being big. This is so true, notably if you have interacted with lawn mites. Most people tend to overlook and ignore these tiny lawn creatures until it’s too late.

Having a healthy and beautiful grass lawn is a dream come true for any lawn owner. However, chewing pests like lawn mites can wreak havoc and destroy this beautiful dream by munching through your lawn.

While it’s not hard to pinpoint dying areas on your lawn, it is often challenging to identify and deal with these little pests.

So what do lawn mites look like? Before we get to that, let’s a little background on lawn mites.

What Are Lawn Mites?

Lawn mites are tiny pests that are hard to spot with your naked human eyes. Mites is a blanket term as studies have shown there are several different species of this insect-like pests.

Some are known to feed on both domestic and wild mammals, including people.

According to Colorado State University, three types of lawn mites regularly invade grass lawns: they include banks mites, clover mites, and brown mites. Research shows that the banks’ mite is the most damaging of the three.

Damage can be as simple are thinning your grass, which will heal with time. However, in some cases, your grass will be unable to withstand the infestation, and replanting will be your only option.

See also: Are worms good for your lawn?

When Do Lawn Mites Invade Your Lawn?

Lawn mite destruction is most common during the dry winter season and spring months of December through to May. You will often misdiagnose a lawn mite infestation as natural winter damage on your lawn.

If you have a mite infestation, parts of your grass lawn will have a brown-like look.  Most of the time, you won’t even notice this until springtime, when you have a full-blown infestation.

Now back to the previous question, so what do lawn mites look like?

Spraying lawn for ticks

What Do Lawn Mites Look Like?

The bulk of lawn mites are identical in appearance. They tend to be small (less than a third of an inch) with a pear-shaped body. Male lawn mites are relatively smaller and have a more oval shape compared to females.

Eggs are round and transparent at first but darken as they are about to hatch.

Adult lawn mites are usually brick brown in color with two notable white dots on the rear. They have a light brown patch at the end of their belly and eight orange-like limbs. Lawn mites are more orange-reddish when young but tend to darken as they age.

During summer, lawn mites eggs spend their summer clinging to the stems and leaves of your grass lawn. In October, the eggs hatch, and the baby mites start chewing on the grass lawn.

How To Tell If You Have Lawn Mites

Tracking lawn mites in your lawn is a pretty straightforward task. Take a white sheet and scrape some grass from the somewhat affected area. Look at the dark dots on the sheet; if they are moving, you definitely have mites.

Simple? Right! You actually don’t need a professional for this.

See also: Home remedies to get rid of flying bugs in yard

How Does Lawn Mite Damage Look Like on a Lawn?

Pale Yellow Discoloration On Leaves

Lawn mites wreak havoc on grass lawn by scraping grass juices from the grass’s external cell spaces. Once the grass is sucked dry, it loses its vigor and turns to a light yellow color.

As the destruction worsens, the grass gradually turns yellow, dries out, and finally dies.

Dry Lawn Patches Near Building, Sidewalk, And Parking Lots.

Most lawn mites feed in groups inside a well-calculated web on the lower parts of the grass stems. They are more prevalent in areas prone to drought stress, like near houses, next to parking lots, and driveways.

Damage is most common in areas exposed to the sun, especially in a slopy area where the lawn is most likely to be stressed by drought.

See also: How to fix damaged lawn from grubs

How Do I Get Rid Of Lawn Mites

Since lawn mites reproduce quickly, particularly in a warm, dry environment, they can be hard to control. Furthermore, certain breeds may be immune to pesticides that are currently available.

Irrigating the lawn to disrupt the mite population and minimize moisture stress on the lawn will go a long way in reducing mite infestation. Ok, so how do you get rid of lawn mites?

1. How to Get Rid of Spider Mites Naturally

Do you know that lawn mites dislike water? Watering your lawn frequently is an excellent way of preventing lawn mite destruction. Yes, lawn mites colonies can be controlled by watering the grass.

Irrigating your lawn will definitely go a long way in disrupting the mite population and minimize moisture stress on the lawn.

One mistake people usually make during winter is to turn off the sprinklers as grass mites are more active during these months. It’s vital to water your lawn in winter, especially in areas that have been exposed to extremely warm and dry conditions.

See also: What kills lawn moths quick

2. Using Organic Pesticides

For the organic pesticides treatment to work properly, you should be applied when the lawn mites are still alive. The treatment destroys up to 85 percent of any active lawn mites anytime you apply it.

It is recommended to administer organic pesticides three times to eradicate mite colonies in your grass lawn completely.

Lawn mites practically suck the life out of your grass, leaving it dry and weak to survive. Fortunately, if you identify and get rid of lawn mites, your grass lawn will spring back to life quicker than you thought.

Little mounds of dirt in lawn, what are they?