Field library

White Grubs

These are fat white grubs with a brown head that lie curled like the letter C in the soil and eat the roots of the cane. With the roots gone the clump turns yellow, wilts in the heat of the day, and the canes lean over or lift out of the ground with a light pull. The parent beetles fly at dusk after the first rains and feed on the leaves of nearby trees.

How to scout

Where a clump is yellow or falling over, dig about a foot deep around it, turn the soil over by hand and count the curled white grubs.