Turfgrass covers 20.2 million hectares of land and generates $40-60 billion annual revenue in the U.S. The turf industry continues to expand due to growing consumer demand, rising urbanization, aesthetics, and environmental benefits of turfgrass in urban settings. The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is sporadic but a serious turfgrass pest and often causes considerable economic losses in the sod farms. Although predatory arthropods have been reported in sod farms, little is known on the level of predation and key predators of fall armyworm in sod production. The objective of this study was to determine predatory activity in sod farms and its comparison with activity in residential lawns. We used three sampling methods: (1) sentinel card with green clay models of caterpillar larvae (2) sentinel card with live 3rd instar fall armyworm larvae, and (3) time-lapse camera recording predaceous activity. For this study, 10 sod fields and 11 residential lawns were selected in central Georgia. The clay model sentinel cards were exposed for 3 d whereas, live larvae sentinel cards and cameras were deployed for 1 d. Results show that impressions from arthropod interaction on clay models and predation on sentinel card larvae were significantly lower in sod farms than in residential lawns (P < 0.05). Although ants, carabid beetles, and spiders were recorded using cameras on clay and live models in both systems, significantly lower incidence of these predators was documented in sod farms than in residential lawns.
