Billbug

Damage usually occurs during times of summer drought and can often be mistaken for other culprits. Damage can range from small, circular patches of turf die back to complete destruction by August. The turf will turn a whitish-straw color and can further be identified by pulling up on the grass, if the grass blades break at the base of the plant and the blades are hollow or full of sawdust-like material, billbugs have invaded your property.

The larvae stage of billbugs do the most damage to turf. Like the white grub, billbug larvae attacks the root structure of the grass. The damage tends to happen during drought stress (and can sometimes me misdiagnosed as such). One way to tell if it's billbugs or not: grasp a handful of turf and pull. If the turf breaks easily at ground level and the grass blades are hollow - then you have billbugs.