Tipula spp. – Leatherjackets
Common name – Leatherjackets, daddy-longlegs, crane flies
Leatherjackets are unwanted pests that damage a lawn and can also kill or damage small plants in flower beds and vegetable plots by eating the roots and stem bases. They are often more numerous after a wet autumn or wet winter (They do not ten well in cold winters), as damp conditions favour survival of eggs and larvae.
Caused by larval stage of crane flies or daddy-longlegs
Below is a lawn in Glengormley we were asked to treat, you can clearly see the damage that they have caused.
The first two pictures are the damage caused by them eating the roots
Front lawn was very badly damaged by the leatherjackets
The back of the house
The lawn was aerated, then treated with an insecticide to kill off the leatherjackets, scarified, over seeded and fed to re-instate the lawn.
Below are pictures of the lawn fully recovered.
