What Insects Eat Grass

There is a significant variation in the feeding habit of different insects throughout the world. If you are interested in what insects eat grass, this guide must be a great source to learn the grass-eating insects.

Quick answer: grass moths, mole crickets, grubs (beetle larvae), and larvae of crane fly are the common grass-eating insects. Again, different types of ants (fire ants, carpenter ants), worms (armyworms, webworms, and cutworms), chinch bugs, aphids, and leafhoppers eat grass.

Here, I will show you 15+ types of insects that eat grass. As an insect keeper or gardener, you might know these grass-eating insects.

You will find a short description of these grass-eating insects and their other different feeding habits in this article.

What insects eat grass

As there are millions of insects worldwide, you will find a little difference in their feeding habits. Most insects are herbivores, but you may also see carnivorous and omnivorous types of insects worldwide.

So, most of the world’s insects eat steam, leaves, tree roots, nectar, seeds, grass, and flowers. But what types of insects specifically eat grass?

Well, you may divide the herbivorous insects into bad and good insects according to their feeding habit. Here, I will only enlist the bad insects that live on grass and seriously damage the plant, leaves, and grass.

Table 1 shows the insects that eat grass and can destroy your lawns –

Types of Insects eat grass	Other feeding habit (Main)
Grass moth	Grass, steam,
Mole crickets	Leaves, grass, roots, and shoots
Beetle larvae	Grass, seeds, grains, fruits,
Crane fly larvae	Leaves, grass, decay veritable,
Ants	Grass, seeds, plants, meats,
Chinch bugs	Leaves, grass, roots of plant,
Aphid	Grass, plant sap, leaves,
Leafhoppers	Leaves, grass, plant sap,
Webworms	Grass, tree, shrubs, plants,
Cutworms	Grass, bean, cabbage, carrots, peas,

So, these are the real grass-eater insects in the world. But you may find other insects that can also eat tree leaves, stems, roots, and other parts of the plant. Let’s see these insects list (bad insects destroying leaves and steam) in the next section of the article.

15+ grass insects names (do insects eat grass)

You have already got the name of the common and main insects that eat grass from table 1. But, there are some other bad insects that not only eat grass but can also destroy the leaves and stems of the tree.

Let’s enlist the 15+ grass or leaves-eating insects from the world –

• Grass moths – common lawns pest or insects,
• Mole crickets – another common grass insect,
• Grubs – larvae of beetle (C-shaped larvae),
• Larvae of crane fly – also a common insect that eats grass and destroys lawn,
• Chinch bugs – largely damage the grass of the lawn,
• Leafhoppers – the true plant feeder (slender, wedge-shaped insects),
• Aphid – small leave or grass sap taker insect,
• Squash bugs – flattened and largest grass eater insect,
• Leaf miner insect – larvae of leaf miners eat grass and leaves,
• Cutworms – eat a wide variety of materials,
• Thrips insect – small and slender insects that eat grass,
• Garden webworm – destroy leaves of your lawn or garden,
• Tomato hornworms – brown and gray hawks (caterpillar),
• Mexican bean beetle – lady beetle can destroy grass,
• Cucumber beetle – can destroy grass, leaves, and fruits,
• Flea beetle – jumping insect in the leaf beetle family,
• Cabbage loppers – known as owlet moths,
• Lace bugs – very small grass and leave eating insect, and
• Colorado potato beetle – also known as potato bugs,

So, the insects, as mentioned earlier, are grass and leave eaters and can seriously damage the plant or lawns.

Why are these grass-eater insects bad?

These grass or leaf eater insects are bad insects in different ways. The true leave or grass eater insects take sap or juice from these leave or grass.

These leaves of the plant curl up and fall off the tree. Sometimes, some grass or leaf eater insects can spread plant disease.

Some leaves or grass-eater insects can chew the leaves and make a big hole. Again, they can chew the whole steam of the plants.

Some of these insects can chew the leaves or grass of the young plant. On the other hand, these grass-eater insects can destroy the roots and shoots of plants.

So, these are the main reasons why these grass-eater insects are considered bad insects.

What type or kind of insects eat grass?

In this part of the article, I will provide a little information on different types or kinds of insects that eat grass and leaves. But you may have a question – what type or kind of insects eat grass specifically?

Well, if you read the information from the above section of this article, you will find the followings type of kind of insects that eat grass or leaves –

• Moths that eat grass – grass moths, cabbage lopper moths,
• Larvae that eat grass – beetle and crane flies,
• Bugs that eat grass – squash and lace bugs,
• Worms that eat grass – cutworms, webworms, armyworms, and
• Other insects that eat grass – the rest of the insects that I have listed before,

Now, I will describe some of the main grass-eater insects with their common behaviors. But you may know them (grass eater insects) from another article on insect pets.

Grass moths – grass eater insect

Grass moths are the most common insect that can eat grass from the garden or your lawns. These grass moths are under the lepidopteran family, which has more than 1900 species.

The common grass moths are white and possess slender bodies. They are called the true grass eater insects as they mainly live on grasses or leaves.

The larvae of the grass moths are very harmful to the lawns compared to the older grass insect. Here, the larvae of grass moths are the stem feeder or grass eater.

They can destroy a large amount of stem and grass from your lawns within a few days. These grass-eater insects also eat sugar can, rice, carrots, and other different vegetables.

Mole crickets – another common grass-eater insect

Mole crickets are considered another great grass eater insect in the world. They are light brown insects with long bodies and short, stout forelegs.

But why the mole crickets are bad among the grass eater insects? Well, they can causes the following damage to your lawns or garden –

• Mole crickets eat the roots and shoots of the grass,
• They can burrow the roots of the grass of your lawns and make them damaged,
• These mole crickets can cause the soil (of the garden or lawn) to dry out quickly,

Thus, mole cricket has become another great grass eater and lawn damager insect worldwide. But, in Tennessee, USA, you will find Northern Mole Crickets, which are less dangerous to the lawns.

These Northern Mole crickets of Tennessee don’t cause serious damage to the grass of the lawn or garden.

Grubs or larvae of a beetle

You will find different white larvae (grubs) of various species of beetle. But, the color of the grubs (larvae of beetle) may vary from white to gray and brown.

The most interesting facts about the beetles are –

• They love to spend most of their time in-ground,
• Some white beetle love to spend time in soil,
• They remain 1 – 2 inches below the surface of the lawns (in mild weather),
• They also go deep into the soil in the winter season,

But how do these grubs damage the grass? Well, these grubs of the beetle burrow around the roots of the grass. They eat these roots of the grass about one inch below the surface of the soil.

You may find the below-mentioned beetles that may cause damage to the lawns –

• Japanese beetle larvae – feeds on different plants and grass,
• May beetle larvae – feed the roots of the grass in different seasons,
• Asiatic garden beetle – they eat only at night (mainly feed on the various kind of foliage),
• Oriental beetle – found in Tennessee and feed on only the short grass,
• Green June beetle – feeds mainly the decaying vegetable materials,

You may find some other beetle that can eat grasses, roots, and other different parts of plants. They are (List of other beetles) –

• Colorado potato beetle,
• Mexican bean beetle, and
• Cucumber beetle,

Let’s know a little about these beetles.

Do beetles eat grass?

So, different beetle species eat grass, roots, shoots, and leaves. The Colorado potato beetle love to stay in potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants. They chew the leaves of these plants (young) and damage the specific plant.

The cucumber beetles not only destroy cucumbers, they also eat the leaves and flowers of different vegetables.

They sometimes eat the stem and roots of fruit plants.

You may also find them chewing the whole fruit plant and making some holes in it.

The Mexican bean beetle can hide them in any kind of leaves. They love to chew these leave and make the leaves like lace.

The flea beetle is more dangerous as they affect any kind of leave of your lawns. They can make tiny holes in the leave of various plants. In constant, they can also spread different plant diseases.

Ants and aphids – grass eater insects

Ants are true insects that make their nest in the ground or soil. They can eat the root of the grasses.

Sometimes some ants (fire ants and harvester ants) can destroy the seed of the grass. But, if you notice their other feeding habit, they don’t love to eat too much root from the grasses.

On the other hand, aphid most commonly attracts various vegetables and most fruit plants. They usually take the juice from different plants’ leaves and make them curl up from the tree.

Like the flea beetle, aphids also spread some plant diseases. So, you might control them (flea beetle and aphid) to keep your lawn fresh. For this, you may use the specific insecticide (listed here) to control the over flea beetle and aphid.

What insects eat leaves and stems of grass

Above all, the insects eat the grass or their root, but some insects eat leaves and stem (mainly). So, what insects eat leaves and stems of grass?

Well, let’s enlist these insects that eat mainly leaves and stems of grass –

• Sod webworms,
• Cutworms,
• Armyworms,
• Grasshoppers,
• Fruit and crane flies, and
• Billbugs,

Let’s know a little about the leave and stem eater insects.

If you want to see the different leaves, grass, and stem-eating insects, let’s find them on social media of insect pets.

What insects eat grasshoppers?

Typically, some strong beetle species, ants, and robber flies eat grasshoppers. You will find the details interesting facts about a grasshopper in another article on the insect pet.

You may have a question – do grasshoppers eat grass? Normally, grasshoppers don’t eat grasses. But, if the number of grasshoppers is numerous and the forage is less for them, they can eat grass.

Sometimes, these grasshoppers can migrate this lawn to any other cropland.

Do webworms eat grass?

Yes, webworms eat grass, leaves, and stem of the tree. The sod webworms are considered the larvae of lawn moths.

They are small whitish or grayish moths that possess fine hairs on their bodies. The older webworms can curve their wings to their bodies and fly over the lawn in the evening.

These are the (webworms) another insect that becomes active at night. The webworm eats grass, leaves, and stems at night.

They love to fly over the new lawn and attract bluegrass and bentgrass. What about the armyworms and cutworms? Do they (armyworms and cutworms) eat grass?

Yes, both armyworm and cutworm eat grasses, leaves, and stem of the tree. The armyworms love to eat the grass from the lawns. Their grass feeding may cause circular bare areas in your lawns.

The larvae of the armyworms are long and possess greenish and blackish stripes on their body. In contrast, the older armyworms are brownish-gray and have long wings.

Do cutworms eat grass?

Cutworms are the only worm that can occasionally eat grass. These cutworms also eat the stem of grasses and leaves of various plants.

They can cut off the grass near the soil and causes severe damage. Thus, they can damage the seedling of bentgrass and ryegrass.

The larvae of crane flies can also eat the grass, roots, and leaves. They (crane flies) also cause severe damage to your lawn.

You will find a little information on the crane fly in the below –mentioned article –

• What is the smallest insect in the world (crane flies)?

In the mentioned article, you will find how the smallest insect – crane flies can damage lawns.

What insects take plant or grass juice?

Some bugs or insects take the plant and grass juice specifically. First, let’s see these insects that take grass or plant juice specifically-

• Leafhopper insects,
• Chinch bugs,
• Mites, and
• Spittlebugs,

These are the specific bugs or insects that take the juice from the plant or grass. But, if you see their feeding habit, you may find them also eating other parts of the tree or plants like leaves and stem.

What do chinch bugs eat?

The nymphs of the chinch bugs take mainly the juice from the grass or plant’s leaves. You will find hairy chinch bugs in the eastern part of the United States of America.

These hairy chinch bugs of the eastern United States can cause severe damage to lawns. They destroy the roots of the grass and take the juice from these grasses.

You may easily identify the infestation of chinch bugs on your lawns by the following signs –

• May appears yellowish spots on the lawns,
• These yellowish spots rapidly turn brown,

The nymph of the chinch bugs is bright red and possesses a white band across its back. In the early spring, the older chinch bugs lay eggs on the leaf and roots of the grass.

Sometimes, you may find some false chinch bugs that feed on the grass. But they (false chinch bugs) are not real lawn insects.

What insects eat sap from grass?

So, what insects eat sap from grass? Leafhoppers love to stay in the lawns and take sap from the grass. They can take sap from the leaves and stems of grasses.

These leafhoppers can damage new lawns extensively. When the leafhopper infestation occurs, you may find whitened patches in the damaged lawns.

Spittlebugs also take sap from the grass. They can damage the well-established lawn like leafhoppers.

You may find more meadow spittlebugs in Tennessee, USA. The lymph of the meadow spittlebugs are yellowish green and feed on the clover and weeds.

Again, these insects (spittlebugs) can eat bermudagrass, centipede grass, and several other plants.

Some clover mites can eat the clovers and other different lawn plants. These clover mites are very small and only feed on plants.

Other several species of mites also may eat the plants and grasses from the lawns. Normally, they attract the lawns weeds, grass, and plants in spring and fall.

Insects that don’t eat or damage the grass

You may find some different insects that may live in the lawns but don’t damage the grass or leaves. Let’s see these insects that don’t eat or damage the grass from the lawns –

• Earwigs insects,
• Chiggers insects,
• Thrips insects,
• Slugs (not the insects),
• Millipedes and centipedes insects,
• Sowbugs and pillbugs,
• Spiders (not insects) and scorpions,

Earwigs are beetle-like insect that has long body and are reddish brown. They can hide during the day and forage at night.

These earwigs feed on different types of feed. They do not frequently occur in lawns or pasture land.

The chiggers are the red bugs that don’t eat the grass from the lawns. But, they love the hind them in the grassy or woody area of the land.

Thrips love to stay in the grass and flowers. You may find them (thrips) on the lawn and even in the house. They also don’t eat the grass from the lawns.

Slugs and snails are not insects, but you will find them frequently on the lawn. They are harmless to the lawn and don’t eat any grass or plants.

Millipedes and centipedes are other beneficial insects in lawns. They are dark brown insects and possess different segments in their body.

They love to stay in the lawns, but they don’t eat or damage any grass or stem of the plants. Most of species of centipedes are not dangerous, but some larger species may bite people.

You may find sowbugs and pillbugs in a damp area and on damp ground. They don’t eat any grass or leaves from the lawns. These 2 insects feed on the organic materials from the lawns.

Frequently asked questions on grass eater insects.

Let’s see some of the common questions on the grass eater insects that are asked by the insect learners (new entomologists). You may mainly find the followings types of grass eater insects in the world –

• An insect that infects soil and roots of the grass,
• Bugs that feed on leaves and stems of grass, and
• An insect that takes juice from the plant and grass,

Now, let’s see the questions on – what insects eat the grass and others with their concise answers.

What insects (bugs) eat the grass?

White grubs (larvae of beetles), mole crickets, ants, and leafhoppers are the actual grass-eater insects in the world. But, you may find other insects that eat grass directly or take the juice from the grass or leaves.

I have already enlisted the different insects that eat grass, leaves, and stem of the plants earlier in this article. Please go back and read these grass-eater insects from the list.

What insects are killing my grass?

Larvae of different beetles (known as grubs), larvae of crane flies, and mole crickets are the main insects that can kill your grass. They can eat and destroy the different parts of the grass (leaves, stems, and roots).

A large amount of grass may be eaten by the larvae of different beetle species. I have already enlisted these different types of beetles (larvae) that can eat the grass from the lawns (in this article).

What bugs eat grassroots?

The followings are the bugs that eat grassroots and damage the soil –

• White grubs (larvae of beetles),
• Ants and aphids,
• Mole crickets,
• Wireworm,
• Cicadas killer wasp,
• Periodical cicadas,
• Billbugs,
• Earthworms, and
• Wild bee,

These are the bugs that can eat the grassroots. You may know the other different feeding habits of these grass root eater insects from another article on insect pets.

What worm eats grass?

The grub worms and cutworms can eat grass extensively from the lawns. But other worms, like armyworms and webworms, can also eat the grass.

These worms also love to eat the leaves of different plants. They also destroy the roots of the grass and plants, and thus the soil may damage.

What is eating my grass at night?

Asiatic garden beetle (larvae) and webworms eat the grass from the lawns at night. You may find the Asiatic garden beetle on the lawns from mid-July to mid-august.

These Asiatic garden beetles (larvae) love to eat different kinds of foliage. You may quickly identify them (Asiatic garden beetle) as their body characteristics.

These beetles are about 0.25 inches long and possess a velvety brown colored chestnut. You may also see some short yellow hairs on the underside of their body.

Conclusion

So, I think you got the idea of what insects eat grass. Here, the grass moths, grubs, or larvae of different beetles, mole crickets, and larvae of crane flies can eat the grass or leaves from the plant.

This article also provides specific information on – what insects eat grass roots, leaves, stems, and juice from the grasses or leaves. So, you may know the different types of insects that feed on the grass and leaves with their other feeding habit.