Information about this common lawn pest

Leatherjackets are the larval stage of the crane fly or daddy-long-legs. Leather jacket larvae are about 2.5cm (1" long), greyish black in colour, legless and with no distinct head.
In early summer leatherjackets pupate hatching at the end of summer. In August they start to lay eggs again. Within two weeks eggs hatch. The young start to feed, continuing throughout winter, ready to gorge on grass roots in spring. If they reach plague proportions the grass growth slows and yellow patches appear and the grass is easily pulled up, with little or no root growth. When this occurs it is justifiable to eradicate them.
We supply a product made by Bayer called Lawn Grub Killer which is simply mixed in a watering can and applied to the lawn. It is systemic and well stay active in the soil for a number of months and therefore can be applied not only to kill existing leather jackets but to prevent further infestation.