Norris notes the worms work fast and can migrate to other lawns or green areas after the food supply is gone. “It was a great, green lawn and now it’s brown and muddy it’s going to take awhile to grow back.” “It was brown, over there, and then it kind of just spread the whole way across,” he said. Dillon Uranker’s Westlake home’s lawn fell victim to the worms in just a matter of days. They feed on healthy grass and plants, and they feed fast. “The moths land in the area, they lay their eggs in the area, the eggs hatch and you’ve got these larvae, caterpillars, if you will, then they start feeding.” “They got a free ride in with the wind,” he said. Norris suspects the southern storms brought the mature moths up here. The Fall Armyworm is not native to Ohio, and typically lives in southern areas with tropical climates. “We have calls from Westlake, Avon Lake, Bay village, all over the west side.” “You’re seeing a lot of lawns that are turning brown and people are like ‘oh my gosh, what’s going on? Am I going to lose my lawn?’” said Norris. He said in the past week, the company has been inundated with hundreds of calls from frantic homeowners. WESTLAKE, Ohio - There’s an intruder in Cleveland’s West Side suburbs: the Fall Armyworm.įall Armyworms are marching, munching and destroying lawns and plants at a rapid pace.ĭan Norris is a certified turf grass professional with Good Nature Organic Lawn Care.

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