Lawn Diseases
Grub Preventer vs Grub Killer: The Bag May Be Neither
NC State: pesticide applied at any other time will be ineffective. And the cheap bags printing 'grubs' hold pyrethroids, which never reach the larva.
Surface Insecticide (hose-end)
Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer for Lawns & Landscapes (Ready-to-Spray) Review
★★★☆☆ 3/5
our editor rating how we score4.4/5 from 7,690 shoppers at Amazon — their number, not ours.
$6–$12
Typical price · 32 oz hose-end bottle treats up to 5,000 sq ft
Affiliate links — see our disclosure. Commissions never influence verdicts.
The cheapest way to treat a lawn for surface insects, and another pyrethroid whose grub and Japanese beetle claims describe two very different jobs.
Our Verdict
Hose-end ready-to-spray means no mixing and no sprayer, and at six dollars for 5,000 sq ft the barrier to trying it is almost nothing. Gamma-cyhalothrin handles surface feeders and it genuinely does kill adult Japanese beetles chewing foliage — which is the detail worth separating, because the same bottle lists 'grubs'. Adult beetles are hit on contact above ground; their larvae live several inches down, and Penn State does not list the pyrethroids for larval control at all. Hose-end applicators also give you the least control over rate of any format, which matters for a product this toxic to pollinators and aquatic life. Fine as a cheap, targeted answer to a confirmed surface pest. Not the answer to a grub count, and not something to spray across a whole lawn on suspicion.
✅ Pros
- Cheapest entry price of any insecticide here, with no sprayer to buy
- Hose-end applicator means no measuring or mixing
- Kills adult Japanese beetles and the surface feeders it lists
- Also labelled for ornamentals, so one bottle covers beds as well as turf
⚠️ Cons
- The grub claim is a pyrethroid claim — extension guidance does not support it for larvae
- Hose-end applicators give the poorest rate control of any format
- Highly toxic to bees and aquatic life; not for blooming areas or near water
- Broad-spectrum, so it removes beneficial insects along with the target
Product type
Surface Insecticide (hose-end)
Active ingredient
Gamma-Cyhalothrin 0.08%
Price range
$6–$12
Coverage
32 oz hose-end bottle treats up to 5,000 sq ft
Best for
A cheap, no-equipment spot treatment for confirmed surface insects
our editor rating
3 out of 5
Where our facts come from
Registration confirmed, label text not read
EPA Reg. No. 9688-277-8845
The registration exists and we confirmed it, but no label document was available to read. Treat the concentration and general use pattern as sound and take rates from the container itself.
What we found when we read it
EPA PPLS registry located 2026-08-02: 'SPECTRACIDE TRIAZICIDE INSECT KILLER ONCE & DONE! CONCENTRATE 2', EPA Reg. 9688-277-8845 — a distributor product (base 9688-277, distributor 8845). Gamma-cyhalothrin confirmed as the active. The 0.08% figure in our record comes from the manufacturer's SDS rather than the label; the granular version sits on a separate registration, 9688-250-8845, so check which pack you have. Full label text not read.
Where this page and the container disagree, the container wins — the label is the legal authority on rates and restrictions. How to read one yourself.
Where This Product Matters
Matched against each state's actual disease, weed and pest pressure.
Alabama
Alabama hub →Fire ants (they entered the country at Mobile, and Alabama has lived with them longest)Chinch bugs (St. Augustine)
Arkansas
Arkansas hub →Fire antsChinch bugs
California
California hub →BillbugsSod webworms (lawn moths)Red imported fire ants, a quarantined pest since arriving in 1998 — infesting Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and to a lesser extent San Diego counties, with the regulated area covering Orange County and portions of Los Angeles and Riverside rather than the state; CDFA runs a reporting hotline for finds outside it
Colorado
Colorado hub →BillbugsSod webworms
Connecticut
Connecticut hub →Chinch bugs (sunny, dry, sandy strips — the shoreline and the road edge)Sod webworm
Delaware
Delaware hub →Chinch bugs (hot dry sand along drives, walks and the beach-town lots)Sod webwormBillbugs
Florida
Florida hub →Southern chinch bugsTropical sod webwormsRed imported fire ants, plus the less common native tropical fire ant — UF/IFAS records mounds in open sunny lawns and nesting under patio slabs, sidewalk edges and electrical boxes
Georgia
Georgia hub →Fire ants (statewide, mounds year-round)Chinch bugs (coastal St. Augustine)
Hawaii
Hawaii hub →Chinch bugs on St. AugustineBillbugs and white grubs
Idaho
Idaho hub →Sod webworm
Illinois
Illinois hub →BillbugsSod webwormsChinch bugs (sunny south-facing slopes)
Indiana
Indiana hub →BillbugsSod webwormsChinch bugs
Iowa
Iowa hub →BillbugsSod webworms
Kansas
Kansas hub →Chinch bugs, a perennial Kansas pest across essentially every turf type rather than a coastal or sandy-soil specialistSod webworm
Kentucky
Kentucky hub →Billbugs (zoysia and bluegrass)Sod webwormsChinch bugs (dry sunny banks)
Louisiana
Louisiana hub →Southern chinch bugs (primarily a St. Augustine problem)Tropical sod webwormsFire ants
Maine
Maine hub →Sod webwormChinch bugs (dry sandy strips along the coast and the river valleys)
Maryland
Maryland hub →Hairy chinch bugsSod webwormsBillbugs
Massachusetts
Massachusetts hub →Hairy chinch bugsSod webworms
Michigan
Michigan hub →Sod webworms
Minnesota
Minnesota hub →Sod webworms
Mississippi
Mississippi hub →Fire antsChinch bugs (St. Augustine)
Missouri
Missouri hub →Billbugs (zoysia)Sod webwormsChinch bugs (sunny southern slopes)
Montana
Montana hub →Sod webworm
Nebraska
Nebraska hub →Chinch bugsSod webworm
Nevada
Nevada hub →BillbugsSod webwormsAnts
New Hampshire
New Hampshire hub →Chinch bugs (dry sunny sand along the river valleys)Sod webworm
New Jersey
New Jersey hub →Sod webwormsChinch bugsBillbugs
New Mexico
New Mexico hub →Chinch bugs in hot dry sandy strips, which describes most of the stateSod webwormRed imported fire ants in isolated instances only, with Dona Ana County under quarantine: nursery stock, sod, soil, baled hay and straw, and soil-moving equipment leaving the county must be certified free of the pest
New York
New York hub →Chinch bugsSod webworms
North Carolina
North Carolina hub →Red imported fire ants, with NCDA&CS running its own quarantine that restricts moving plant products from infested areas into non-infested ones; NC State records only Solenopsis invicta here, with no hybridSod webworms
North Dakota
North Dakota hub →Sod webworm
Ohio
Ohio hub →BillbugsHairy chinch bugsSod webworms
Oklahoma
Oklahoma hub →Chinch bugsFire ants (southeastern counties)
Oregon
Oregon hub →BillbugsSod webworms
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania hub →Hairy chinch bugsSod webwormsBillbugs
Rhode Island
Rhode Island hub →Chinch bugs (South County sand and sunny road edges)Sod webworm
South Carolina
South Carolina hub →Imported fire ants, which Clemson treats on a two-bait-per-year calendar rather than on demand
South Dakota
South Dakota hub →Sod webworm
Tennessee
Tennessee hub →Billbugs (zoysia)Imported fire ants, first confirmed as an isolated Shelby County infestation in 1948 and now covered by a Tennessee Department of Agriculture quarantine whose county list is reissued as the range moves; UT Extension publishes the two-step bait method as SP419Sod webworms
Texas
Texas hub →Chinch bugsFire ants
Utah
Utah hub →Billbugs (the Wasatch Front's most misdiagnosed lawn insect — the damage reads as drought)Sod webworms
Vermont
Vermont hub →Sod webwormChinch bugs (dry sandy strips in the valleys)
Virginia
Virginia hub →Chinch bugsSod webwormsImported fire ants, including the hybrid Virginia Tech publishes on separately, under a VDACS quarantine that has expanded in 2019, 2022 and again on 27 May 2025 and now covers 18 counties and 15 independent cities rather than the whole state
Washington
Washington hub →Lawn billbugs (eastern Washington only — not yet detected west of the Cascades)
West Virginia
West Virginia hub →Sod webworm
Wisconsin
Wisconsin hub →Sod webworms
Wyoming
Wyoming hub →Sod webworm
Common questions
Common Questions
How much does Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer for Lawns & Landscapes (Ready-to-Spray) cost?
Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer for Lawns & Landscapes (Ready-to-Spray) typically runs $6–$12, covering 32 oz hose-end bottle treats up to 5,000 sq ft.
What does Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer for Lawns & Landscapes (Ready-to-Spray) treat?
Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer for Lawns & Landscapes (Ready-to-Spray) targets Chinch bugs, Sod webworms, Fire ants, Billbugs.
What is the active ingredient in Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer for Lawns & Landscapes (Ready-to-Spray)?
Gamma-Cyhalothrin 0.08%, registered under EPA Reg. No. 9688-277-8845.
What is the biggest downside of Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer for Lawns & Landscapes (Ready-to-Spray)?
The grub claim is a pyrethroid claim — extension guidance does not support it for larvae
Real feedback
Customer Reviews
No reviews yet — be the first to share how Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer for Lawns & Landscapes (Ready-to-Spray) worked for your lawn.
Leave a review
Thanks — we read every submission by hand, so it may take a little while to appear.
Related Guides
Lawn Diseases
Armyworms and Sod Webworms: Which Ate Your Lawn?
Green to brown in two days means armyworms; closely cropped patches mean sod webworms. Both are caterpillars — which rules out most grub products.
Lawn Diseases
Lawn Grubs: How and When to Kill Them
Most lawns never reach the grub treatment threshold, so count before you buy — and curative products only work from August through October.
Lawn Diseases
Lawn Fungus Identification: Rule Out 4 Impostors
Lawn fungus identification by patch pattern, blade lesion and season — starting with the four things that look like disease and are not.
Lawn Health Newsletter
Seasonal lawn reminders, on time
Pre-emergent windows, disease alerts and fertilization schedules for your region — one short email, right when your lawn needs it.
Free forever. Unsubscribe anytime. US lawns only (for now). This season's companion: the printable summer checklist.