'This year is like a perfect storm,' said Rick Brandenburg, an entomologist at North Carolina State University. But when they hatch, the pests can turn a lush green lawn into a brown, barren wasteland seemingly overnight. Tiny troops are marching - and munching - through lawns across the country, leaving grass and plants dead in their wake.Įxperts say a particularly widespread and intense outbreak of armyworms is overtaking lawns, leaving masses of Styrofoam ball-like eggs stuck to patio furniture and the sides of houses.