Hi there I am Jason from Australia.
I got some turf - Tropika Blue (Digitaria didactyla var. swazilandensi) layed in the start of October. Therefore it is nearly 4 months old.
Come about mid to late December parts of the lawn started to deteriorate. It only seemed to be the parts in the sun so I increased the watering. I got back from work this week and have seen it take a turn for the worse. I thought it was just the turf settling in and the heat knocking it about (30-40Celsius) days. So I have been watering in morning every 2nd day.
So I pulled a few weeds out and checked how moist the soil was and found HEAPS of these little critters... What are they? And are they the cause of my issues.. I have parts on my lawn close to the house that is protected by the shade 50% and it is bright green with NO trace of these bugs?
It only seems to be higher on the slope that gets 80-90% sun during the day.
Thanks,
Jason.
Tropika Turf dying
They are slow moving. They are soft.
The one on my finger is on of the larger ones I could find let alone pickup.. There are many smaller 1/2 - 1/4 of the size of this one also.
I cannot be absolutely certain, but the white critters look a bit like mealybugs, sap-feeding relatives of aphids (plant lice), but I doubt that they would cause the type of damage seen in your images. It is possible that a fungal/mould disease of some kind is present - "Patches of grey mould often seen in spring and autumn." - http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Digitaria_didactyla.htm
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