Troops marched through grasslands across the country – and slaughtered – and grass and plants actively died.
Experts say that in the midst of a particularly widespread and devastating epidemic in the grasslands, many streptococcal-like eggs are stuck in the yard and on the sides of the house. But as they grow, the pests can turn into green, barren, barren lands that look like lush green grass overnight.
“This year is like a perfect hurricane,” says Rick Brandenburg, an ecologist at North Carolina State University. In 40 years, I have never seen such a crisis.
According to Brandenburg, worms – especially fallen worms – surround North Carolina and west to Texas and as far north as Michigan and northeastern states, where there are no significant military worms populations.
Eric Rebeck, a professor of oncology at Oklahoma State University, said his phone was ringing from grasshoppers, lawns and peanuts, alfalfa, cotton, double soybeans and sorghum.
He said he would return to Oklahoma every year until the winter frosts killed him. But this year, not only in Oklahoma, but also in Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, there are “unprecedented” worms, he said.
“Whether it’s on the lawn or in the park or on a golf course, they can easily navigate their way through anything,” says Rebeck. They ruin everything in their path, they move like an army on the move.
In North East Oklahoma, Kevin Walker noticed small caterpillars flooding the compound last month. When he bought a house depot, he said, everyone in front of him was trying to drive the creatures out of their homes.
Walker said he managed to save most of his one-acre home, but some of his neighbors were unlucky.
“It’s like the night,” Walker said of his neighbor. … They spent the whole night there … That’s why they call them war worms.
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Bethany Prat, Jefferson County Veterinary Education Representative for the University of Kentucky’s Cooperative Expansion Service, said she receives dozens of calls every two days about the pests.
What is a fallen army worm?
Rebecca There are two types of army worms: the real army worm and the falling worm, the latter plague is now facing homeowners. Harvesting worms, native to the United States, are the larvae of the fall worms.
Caterpillars grow up to two inches[2 cm]in size and can be green, brown or black. Rebeek said that they could be identified by a white “y” on their head.
The spring worm has two species – the maize and the rice, which. Maize strains feed on corn, sorghum and cotton, rice varieties feed on rice, alfalfa and sorghum as well as grazing grass and grass.
What harm can they do?
Fallen army worms celebrate all kinds of grass, but the extent of the damage depends on the type of grass, Rebeck said. The tropical grasses that grow in the southern states may re-emerge after an invasion of worms, but caterpillars can permanently damage the seasonal grass.
“Grass is generally a matter of beauty,” he said. But if you have grass in the winter, you may want to treat your grass.
Why are we seeing such a vast, powerful epidemic?
Experts say that climate change, wet weather, or changes in natural enemies, such as predators, parasites, and pathogens, can be a factor.
Probably a very complex interaction leading to this epidemic, ”Rebeek said. It is difficult to point your finger at something.
Brandenberg said that although climate change has the potential to increase the number of tropical pests such as grasshoppers, it is difficult to link the two directly.
How did the army worms get here?
Unable to survive the cold spell, the spring worm spends its winter in the Gulf states before moving north, says Brandenburg.
He said the creatures would begin to appear in the southeastern states in the spring before the end of summer in the Atlantic, Middle East and Northeast. They are pests in the southeastern part of the country almost every year and occasionally every ten years or in the eastern states.
Brandenburg added that the Belg worms recently invaded sub-Saharan Africa in 2016 before spreading maize, maize, sorghum and sorghum to Yemen and South Asia to Thailand and China.
Rebeek said the move was likely to be carried out with the help of human trafficking worms.
How do you prevent army worm attacks and renew your lawn after your siege?
Unfortunately, many people do not do much to protect their lawn.
“It’s hard to stop them,” says Rebekah. And it’s hard to predict where they will land and prevent that from happening.
Rebeck warns homeowners to be vigilant, saying, “It’s really just a matter of being alert and alert and watching for signs of trouble.”
Prent, from the University of Kentucky Cooperative Expansion Service, once you notice brown grass, you may be late. She suggested that you wait for the second wave to begin, as the army began to grow as the worms began to grow underground. The next round is to look at the number of eggs and then treat your yard with small caterpillars.
“They plan to control or not to control them,” Pratt said. Nothing will be 100% controlled unless you remove your lawn.
Throwing a bowl of soapy water over the grass can push the buried worms to the floor.
One of the first signs of branding is eating caterpillars. If you see a large number of birds in your yard, you may have found a significant source of food, such as Army worms.
Rebecca advises people to check the mark on the pesticide because it is larger and kills more than fallen worms. These pesticides can kill other pests, such as bee pollen and monarch butterflies.
He said that the cold would stop the plague of worms and that people should be comforted.
“When we get the first snow,” said Rebeck, “there will be no further action because that cold weather will eventually kill them, and then they will know what to expect next year.”
Contributing Jana Williams, The Oklahoma, Sylvia Goodman, Louisville Courier Journal
Contact current news reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter @christinetfern.