Banks Grass Mite Control: How to Get Rid of Banks Grass Mites

This article is a general banks grass mite control guide. Using the products and methods suggested will help you to completely control banks grass mite populations. Follow this DIY guide and use the recommended products and we guarantee 100% control of banks grass mites.

Many homeowners in Colorado and other western parts of the United States often expect to find a lush, green lawn or fully developed crops during the spring months. However, this often is not the case when dealing with an infestation of turf damaging mites such as the banks grass mite. These small arachnid pests are a type of spider mite, and as any homeowner may discover, a quick destroyer of various grasses that reproduce rapidly under hot, dry weather.

Banks grass mites feed mainly on grasses, but can be a serious pest of agricultural crops like corn. This spider mite feeds with a stylet-like mouthpart that penetrates the epidermal plant cells of the host plant turning it from a green color to yellow, brown, white, or silver. Eventually foliage that has been succumbed to banks grass mite feeding activities becomes weakened, discolored, and eventually leads to the plants death.

Unlike other turfgrass mites such as clover mites and winter grain mites, the banks grass mites is most active during hot weather. For this reason, banks grass mites are more commonly known to be the most destructive to turf than other turfgrass mites. Since this pest falls under the category of spider mites it shares the ability to be resistant to most insecticides. In addition, banks grass mites hide at the base of grass plants making detection and control difficult to implement, but it is possible by following the tips and products suggested throughout this guide.

Identification

Before proceeding with treatment, you will need to be sure the pest infesting your yard is banks grass mite. Misidentification can lead you to using the wrong or ineffective insecticides, which can be a waste of your time and finances. Refer to the characteristic list below to know what banks grass mite look like. Due to their small size, you may need to examine this pest underneath a microscope lens since they are barely visible to the human eye.

• Banks grass mites are very similar in appearance to two-spotted spider mites with their oval shaped bodies, similar coloration of green, yellow, reddish brown, or black, and size being approximately 1/32 inches in length.
• Unlike two-spotted spider mites, the banks grass mites will have two black-greenish pigmented spots around the entire side of its body whereas two-spotted spider mites have two dark green-black, pigmented spots on the front half of the body.
• Banks grass mites are very small arachnids closely related to spiders and ticks. They have 8 legs in their adult form and later nymphal stages, but in their first nymphal stages they only have 6 legs.

Use the image and description above to determine whether the pest you are facing is a banks grass mite. If unsure, then you may contact us by phone, with a photo of your pest by email, or in-person at one of our store locations for further pest control assistance and advice. If visiting one of our stores, then you may also bring a sample of the pest in a sealable plastic container.

Inspection

After you have confirmation of banks grass mites, you will need to inspect your property to see where they are most active and the conditions allowing it to thrive. During this phase, you are learning where banks grass mites can be found in your yard so you know where to focus your treatment applications.

Where to Look

Banks grass mites can be found on various crops, gardens, and landscape plants, but are most troublesome on corn and drought-stressed turfgrasses.

When the weather becomes warmer, usually in spring, the female banks grass mite lays eggs on the surface of the grass blades or on webs created by the pest. These webbings are commonly found on the undersides of leaves.

What to Look For

Banks grass mites ingest plant juices from the underside of plants then towards the tip as they mature. Their activities can first be noticed with yellow stippling on the grass blades or leaves, which later becomes reddish or brown in coloration. Continuous feeding activities causes the leaf blade to wither and die, which can make homeowners confuse it with symptoms of drought on turfgrass and plants.

Treatment

Before proceeding with control of banks grass mites in your yard, you will first need to wear the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) before handling or applying any pesticide material.

Banks grass mites are mostly active in turfgrasses and foliage from spring to fall. It would be best to begin treatments in the fall with a pyrethroid insecticide when the weather is not warm enough for the pest to reproduce and spread.

Step 1: Adjust Watering

Banks grass mites flourish in dry environments, so for this reason a proper irrigation schedule can help to deter and stop these pests.

Water with an inch of irrigation no more than once per week depending on your turf and plant type. Spray the top and bottom of plant leaves to disturb any webbing, eggs, or the pest itself.

Since these pests are active in the winter and fall months you will want to continue watering until the ground becomes frozen or several weeks before the first frost.

Step 2: Apply Pyrethroid Based Insecticide

Once all plants are dry, you will then apply a pyrethroid insecticide with a long-lasting residual to control banks grass mites. Supreme IT is a pyrethroid, residual insecticide made with 7.9% bifenthrin to eliminate banks grass mites from residential and commercial lawns.

As a suspended concentrate it will need to be mixed with water before application. We recommend using a 20-gallon hose end sprayer to treat large amounts of your property in one application. Determine how much Supreme IT to use by measuring the square footage of your treatment area. To do this, measure the length and width in feet then multiply (length X width = square footage). Apply 0.25 to 0.5 fl. oz. of Supreme IT per gallon of water per 1,000 sq. ft. of turfgrass.

To mix for a hose-end sprayer, you will pour the appropriate amount of Supreme IT into the container then attach it to the end of a garden hose. Fill the reservoir with enough water to treat the entire treatment area. Push the control valve forward to spray your mixed solution. When done, turn the control valve back until its in the off position.

Spray your mixed solution starting from the back of your lawn until you reach the front. When spraying, make sure to treat the top and bottom of the grass blades to the point of wet, but not runoff.

When dried, Supreme IT will continue to repel and eliminate banks grass mites and 70 other type of pests for up to 90 days.

Do not apply this product to crops or on sod farm turf, golf course turf, or grass grown for seed.

Keep people and pets off the treated areas until the spray has dried.

Prevention

After you have eliminated banks grass mites from your turf, you will want to make sure these pests do not return by taking on some preventative measures. Here are some measures you can take to prevent banks grass mites from returning to your homes property:

• A proper irrigation schedule can help reduce banks grass mite populations and increase your turf and plants health from their feeding activities. Simply water with an inch of irrigation once per week to avoid overwatering. Irrigate all foliage in your property early in the morning to give the plants enough time to dry.
• Prune any discolored or dead foliage, and plants covered with webbing to disrupt feeding or nesting sites for this pest.
• Banks grass mites spend a majority of their time resting and feeding at the base of the plant, which makes them difficult to spot and control. Mow when your turf reaches a height of 3 inches to deter these activities.
• If damage is extensive, then dead parts of your lawn and other foliage may need to be replaced with new sod or reseeded.
• Lastly, apply a pyrethroid insecticide with residual effects such as Supreme IT every 3 months. Once applied, this product will continue to control banks grass mites and other pests in your property.

Key Takeaways

What are Banks Grass Mites?

• Banks grass mites are a difficult to control lawn mite, also falling under the spider mite species, as this pest can become resistant to most insecticides and can do undetected for long periods of time until plants are severely damaged.

How to Get Rid of Banks Grass Mites

• To get rid of banks grass mites you will need to consistently keep up with regular irrigation practices and applications of Supreme IT at the first sign of discolored foliage.

Preventing Banks Grass Mites Reinfestation

• Banks grass mites are hard to spot to humane eye so regular lawn care maintenance such as mowing when turf reaches a height of 3 inches, and regular irrigation can prevent these pests. You will also need to apply a residual pyrethroid insecticide such as Supreme IT in the winter, and again at the beginning of the spring before the weather becomes warm.