The annual bluegrass weevil or known to us turfheads as ABW's, is a new pest to our area. It's one we have studied for years as we have seen it destroy turf in the Northeast region (New York and Connecticut). This little pest was known for it's ability to survive winters and attack Poa annua on shortcut areas (greens, tees, edges of fairways) in the spring and early summer. The adults would lay eggs, the nymphs burrow into the turfgrass stem causing damage then move into a larva stage and act like a small white grub feeding on roots until it's time to move forward into an adult. All three stages are seen above.
Usually the damage is light and seen when the temperature rise. We have been on the lookout for the past several years on the edges of our poa greens and never seen any activity. As they have progressed down the coast a new issue has become evident. This pest now has adapted to bentgrass as well as poa grass. In addition, poa is attacked in the spring, but bentgrass is the choice in our summers.
Why is this so important, well these pests are the reason for the damage to the approach to 8 green as well as the tees at 9 and 14. What we took for wilt and heat stress was weakened turf from the weevil damage, which is prevalent when the temperatures become extreme and the turf under a lot of stress.
As you can see from the size, it is like finding a needle in a haystack. We have been advised that subsequent years are worse than the initial infestation. We are taking preventative measures by adding control programs to the budget for next year, but in many cases it's just hard to beat nature when it comes to defeating all the variables thrown at you. These issues are heightened when we get summers that exceed normals and turfgrass is pushed to the limits of it's recuperative potential.
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