Wichita ? Some people in the Wichita area are getting an eerie, deja vu feeling as they see worms moving out of wheat and alfalfa fields and into the suburbs.

But horticulturists say people shouldn’t fret. The latest invasion to hit driveways and lawns is not like the army worms of 2000.

“It is army cutworm,” said horticulture extension agent Bob Neier. “It does not mean we will have army worms in the summer. A lot of them really aren’t causing damage.”

The sultry August of 2000 brought an army worm invasion that set the driveways, yards and foundations of some area homes crawling. Homeowners used pesticides, but some people still lost their lawns to the invaders.

That invasion came at a time when temperatures were in the 100s, and when the worms munched off the tops of the grass, leaving the crowns of the plants exposed to scorching sun. Some plants dried out and died.

But grass that is nibbled by worms this winter will pop back out, especially with the help of a little moisture, Neier said. If a lawn is being damaged, it can be sprayed with Permethrin or any other basic lawn insecticide, Neier said. A spray will do the best job.

But farmers may have a tougher task salvaging some wheat and alfalfa crops. Some farmers already are spraying, and the weather, which has encouraged the worms, could keep them around until April, agriculture extension agent Steve Westfahl said.

“They really like dry weather,” he said.

What the area needs is either warmer weather to hasten them on their way to mothhood or cold, wet weather to kill them, he said.

If they live to pupate, their numbers now are a pretty good indication that in May the area could see a lot of millers, Westfahl said.

In the meantime, crows feast on the worms in the fields.