Good afternoon, Rick

Scout hot reflective zones — south-facing walls, driveways, sidewalk edges. Confirm active feeding margins before treating.

Season starting — populations building as temps rise. Night feeder — scout late afternoon for irregular brown patches with green frass pellets on soil surface. Damage is scattered/irregular, grass blades chewed from tips. Hot humid conditions favor rapid population growth. Distinguish from Armyworm: webworm damage is patchy with visible frass; armyworm damage is a fast-moving front of close-cropped turf advancing across the lawn.

Early season — monitor. Feeds during day, travels in groups. Damage appears as a sharp line of close-cropped turf advancing rapidly — unlike webworm which is patchy. Green-brown caterpillar with inverted Y on head. Treat ahead of the feeding front. Bifenthrin or chlorantraniliprole.

Spring egg-laying season. Flush test: 2 gal soapy water per sqft. Nymphs emerging — treat before tunneling damage spreads.

Bait application or individual mound drench depending on property.

Peak aphid activity on new growth. Check ixora, hibiscus, podocarpus, plumbago, crape myrtle, and oleander. Clusters on shoot tips and flower buds. Honeydew and sooty mold follow heavy infestations. Treat with systemic or contact insecticide — or let natural predators (ladybugs, lacewings) manage light populations.

Ficus whitefly, spiraling whitefly on palms, rugose spiraling on gumbo limbo. Systemic + contact rotation. Check for sooty mold.

Tea scale on camellias/hollies, wax scale on hollies/ligustrum, cycad aulacaspis scale on sagos. Sooty mold = indicator.

Active mealybug season. White cottony masses on stems, leaf axils, and undersides. Common on crotons, hibiscus, ixora, palms (frond bases), and bird of paradise. Honeydew and sooty mold follow. Systemic imidacloprid drench or contact spray with horticultural oil. Check under leaf sheaths on palms.

White spiraling wax on palm frond undersides. Heavy sooty mold. Systemic trunk injection or soil drench.

Monitor Canary Island date palms and coconut palms. Crown collapse indicates advanced infestation.

Target stressed, recently transplanted, or flood-damaged trees. Look for toothpick-like frass tubes on bark. No effective chemical cure once inside — prevention is key. Maintain tree vigor, avoid wounding.