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Invasive Crane Flies

in the Northeast

DAMAGE

Impact reported in NY has taken the form of scalping damage to golf course greens, root-feeding injury to home lawns, turf disruption due to the activities of skunks searching for larvae, and swarms of adults reported as nuisance problems by home owners in suburban settings. Direct injury to turf is expressed as yellowing spots and bare patches. In the worse case scenario, this can impact entire home lawns as experienced in some areas of Ontario. This injury is caused by disruption of the rooting zone, similar to white grub damage, and by foliar feeding on crowns and leaf blades, similar to black cutworm damage. Early to mid-May is when injury is most likely to be expressed by T. paludosa because large larvae are feeding rapidly as they approach the end of development. The season of most likely injury due to T. oleracea has not yet been established, but in early 2006 damage on greens was linked to the presence of T. oleracea larvae that had taken refuge in aeration holes over the winter or in early spring. An area the size of a quarter was scalped around entry holes. Injury is most easily confirmed by searching for larvae. Birds are major predators, and the peck-holes from foraging crows and other species are easily detected, and by themselves can be troublesome in high maintenance turf areas such as golf course greens.

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