Some of you have asked me what is making the tiny sand mounds on the greens during the day. The answer is two fold in what I have seen.
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| Moundings on 10 green |
The first is the Seed Corn Beetle. These beetles burrow about 2 inches into the soil, looking for insects and other tidbits to eat. There are two generations of these beetles, occurring in May and in August.
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| Close up of Seed Corn Beetle |
The second, and more populous burrowing insect I am seeing are ants, specifically the Eastern carpenter ant and the Cornfield ant. These ants are worker female ants looking to form new colonies with their burrowing. They mainly feed on seeds and honeydew from aphids and mealybugs.
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| Ant mounding on 17 Green |
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| Ant crawling on 17 green |
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| Close up of the Eastern Carpenter Ant |
Normally treatment is not required, since both of these insects provide beneficial natural control of other pests to turf, such as the cutworm. We try to set high thresholds when it comes to evaluating whether to treat or not, to limit the footprint we set on the environment. However, we will be treating for these ants today due to the high incidences of moundings on select greens.
If you have any questions, please contact me at ryan@elconacc.com. Thanks, and have a safe and fun Labor Day Weekend!
Ryan
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