Tropical storm brings out millions of armyworms across the Carolinas

(QUEEN CITY NEWS) — They’re tiny, striped and can chew up your yard in a matter of hours.

They’re armyworms and, thanks to Tropical Storm Debbie , millions of them are on the move across the Carolinas. Homeowners in Union, Mecklenburg and Lancaster counties have all reported infestations.

So, what can you do about armyworms? It all depends on who you ask.

Waxhaw is known for its water tower, quaint-yet-bustling downtown and … armyworms?

“They are everywhere. All of the neighbors have them.” says Pete Henrickson, owner of Grassroots Turf.

Across Waxhaw and well beyond, these agents of defoliation are taking the low ground with strict marching orders.

“Eat grass, get big, lay another egg sac and go through A a second cycle which we usually see in September,” says Henrickson.

Brought in by recent storms, the future moths have good taste in grass.

“All the lawns will be destroyed,” says Henrickson.” Fescue will be taken to the dirt. Bermuda lawns, they’ll eat all the green leaves off the grass.”

It’s all news to homeowner Nick Bontknowski.

“We noticed after Debbie our grass al of a sudden started dying we thought that was weird,” he said. “You could see there’s certain parts are dead and we’re probably going to lose that part of the lawn.”

That’s where lawn specialists like Pete Henrickson come in.

“We’ve never seen something at this scale before some activity yes but not at this level,” he said.

Services like his can treat the lawn, but there’s no guarantee the worms won’t come back. He’d rather you call a pro, but there are remedies you can find in stores.

“We’re looking for an active ingredient called Bithenfren. It’s very common, used for ants and spiders so it’s readily available.” says Henrickson.

As for other remedies, like letting our feathered friends take care of the problem.

“You’re talking thousands of caterpillars so birds can only eat so much,” Henrickson said.

Whatever you do to scare off these invaders, you better hope your neighbor does too.

“These armyworms are transient they’re going to move and find places to eat and lay eggs so if you control yours and your neighbor controls their property you start to create a boundary and start to control the infestation.” says Henrickson.

As for homeowners, they can only hope they’ve caught it in time.

“It’s kind of disappointing, ‘cause you spend five years treating it and it just looks like we didn’t do anything to it.” says homeowner Bontkowski.

Lawn care experts say the key to controlling armyworms is to catch them in time. And if you did manage to escape this summer’s invasion, don’t get too relaxed. Armyworms are expected to our region return every three years.

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