Monitoring And Diagnosis Southern Chinchbug
A yellow or brownish spots or areas on your St. Augustine grass does not necessarily mean you have a chinch bug infestation.
Improper irrigation, root rot or lawn diseases, nematodes or other insect problems may cause similar symptoms. To ensure that you perform the proper service for the right pest you must properly diagnose or identify the chinch bug infestation.
You could perform the chinch bug flotation method but that is too much work. You can get overly scientific about it.
Did You Get Rid Of The Chinch Bugs
Well, that should do it.
If youre still having problems with chinch bugs, post what youve tried so far here in the comments sections and Ill try to get back to you ASAP.
Or if youve had success with this or experience, wed all like to hear it so we can all benefit from it! Let me know in the comments section as well!
Thanks for reading.
Chinch Bug Movement Into New Areas
Southern Chinch Bug typically remain in the same area throughout the year. The southern chinch bug has the ability to fly, however only a small proportion of the population appears to fly as a means of dispersing.
In most cases a population of Southern chinch bug moves from lawn to lawn within a neighborhood by walking from a heavily infested area unto un infested areas to feed.
During their relocation the southern chinch bug may cover over 400 feet in under an hour theses creatures are fast tireless walkers.
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Chinch Bug Life Cycle
Adult chinch bugs overwinter in dry grasses and other debris that offer them protection. Therefore, damage occurs most frequently during hot, dry weather from June through September. There are usually 2 overlapping generations each year.
In spring or early summer, the insects mate and females start to deposit eggs on the leaves and stems of grass.
One female can lay as many as 500 eggs. These eggs hatch in 1-3 weeks into nymphs, which feed voraciously and pass through 5 instars before becoming adults.
What Chemicals Kill Chinch Bugs On The Lawn
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Your lawn is the first thing guests notice when they visit, and brown or dying patches caused by chinch bugs will negatively affect the exterior of your home. Chinch bugs are problematic pests that will continue damaging your lawn long after they have stopped feeding on the turfgrass. Thankfully, a few chemical-control options are available for consumers that allow them to combat chinch bugs without the need to hire an expensive pest-control expert.
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The Scrape And Inspect Method
Understand Their Life Cycle Practice Smart Control
Justin Smith / Getty Images
“Bug” is a slang term used to refer to any insect, but, in the case of chinch bugs, it is also a scientifically accurate term. That is because the chinch bug belongs to the zoological suborder of Heteroptera, commonly referred to as the “true bugs.” They are also true pests, causing damage to lawns and sometimes to crops, as well. There are different types that plague different areas of the United States, but all are small enough to go unnoticed until they begin killing your grass.
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How Do You Spot The Chinch Bugs
Before you know how to treat chinch bugs, you need to know their appearance. When these lawn bugs are young, they are red, but they turn black as they grow older.
Adults have white wings folded across their backs and are about 1/4 inch long. Chinch bugs take roughly 4 to 6 weeks to mature and adults have a white dot on their back.
Where Do Chinch Bugs Come From
Chinch bugs are pretty small pests, but theyll quickly wreak havoc on your lawn and grass. Theyre only about 0.25 and thrive in sunny, drier climates typically in the south.
They quickly eat through the grass and you must act fast in order to protect your lawn from patches and total destruction. They feed on corn, wheat, grains, and thatch. Theyre often classified as Hemiptera and family Blissidae.
Chinch bugs take over lawns that are water-stressed along edges of lawns or where the grass is growing in full sunlight.
Dry, shell-based, or high soil are especially prone to chinch bug damage. They dont evenly distribute a lawn, but rather leave plots of lawn damage throughout the entirety of the are. They distribute vertically from the turf thatch to the upper organic layer of soil.
Sometimes they can be seen rummaging on the blade of grass with the naked eye, as theyre pretty large. They eat the area between the turf thatch and organic soil.
You can read more about them on Wikipedia.
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Should I Be Concerned
Chinch bugs feed by sucking the sap from the crown and stems of turf grasses. They prefer bentgrasses, but will attack many other lawn grasses like bluegrass and varieties of red fescue.
The damage caused by chinch bugs appears quickly in hot weather. With most of the damage in open, sunny areas, this may be mistaken for drought damage.
Lawn damage shows up as irregular yellow patches, which begin in June and spread over the summer. The grass may turn brown and die if feeding continues unchecked, and a severe infestation of chinch bugs can destroy an entire lawn.
Alternate Formats
Chinch Bugs Vs False Chinch Bugs
False chinch bugs are often mistaken for chinch bugs, hence their name. While they belong to the same family, false chinch bugs are gray with a yellow tinge instead of black and white. False chinch bugs also prefer plants in the mustard family as opposed to turfgrass, although theyll feed on whatever is available.
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How To Treat Chinch Bugs Without Chemicals
This article was co-authored by Andrew Carberry, MPH. Andrew Carberry has been working in food systems since 2008. He has a Masters in Public Health Nutrition and Public Health Planning and Administration from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.There are 24 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 98% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 265,074 times.
True chinch bug adults are about ” long, and usually black with white wings .XResearch source If left alone, the chinch bugs will suck the sap out of your grass, leaving solid yellow patches on your lawn.XResearch source Natural methods of pest control and lawn health maintenance are an excellent response to chinch bugs. Non-organic pesticides can kill the chinch bugs’ predators and lead to second infestation later.
How Do I Treat Chinch Bug Infestations
If youve followed all the best practices for a healthy lawn described above but still find you have chinch bugs, you may need professional lawn treatments to target and destroy the pests. This isnt a DIY treatment so call a lawn care service to take care of the problem. Organic Plant Care LLC offers a full range of environmentally friendly lawn treatments, including for chinch bugs.
An illustration from an agriculture book for children, published in 1914, shows drawings of a variety of chinch bugs.
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How To Kill Chinch Bugs Before They Destroy Your Lawn
The silent killers from the East have unfortunately found their way to the West. The hairy, black, white and orange spotted insect known as the chinch bug has arrived and theyre not the type of visitors you want lingering. Chinch bugs become more active and start becoming a problem in June and persist greatly into July and August as the temperatures start increasing and rain is less frequent. Once active, lawns can be completely destroyed within a matter of weeks to the point where repairs arent possible, and a complete re-sodding / landscaping must take place.
This blog will help us catch and deal with these bugs before they deliver a punch that most Canadians consider to be unrecoverable financially. Chinch bugs unfortunately do not die in the winter just from the cold. They freeze and hibernate during the cold months and thaw and come back to life like Han Solo from Star Wars once things warm up. Naturally, because of this we need to take matters into our own hands to control chinch bugs on your lawn.
Where Can They Be Found In Your Lawn
Cinch bugs can be found almost anywhere in a lawn where theres an infestation. They live within the thatch layer, which is the layer between the grass and the soil.
Although theyre almost everywhere, theyre more likely to be found in hot and dry locations in the lawn, such as along the sidewalks and driveways.
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How Can I Prevent Chinch Bug Infestations
Chinch bugs are drawn to stressed lawns and heavily thatched lawns. The best prevention for infestations is to keep your lawn sufficiently irrigated and dethatched. These two practices alone can help to keep chinch bug populations at a manageable level.
Dethatching Your Lawn
Keeping your lawn de-thatched is a good practice whether or not you have chinch bugs. Overall, it will make your lawn less attractive to harmful bugs.
Removing thatch also reduces the chances that female chinch bugs will lay eggs and that chinch bugs will overwinter in your lawn.
Irrigating Your Lawn
Irrigating your lawn on the right schedule for your lawn type and location will keep it green and healthy through summers hot weather. Its also worth noting that chinch bug activity is reduced when there is a lot of natural rainfall, as many chinch bug nymphs drown in the water.
Mowing Your Lawn to the Right Height
Mow your lawn regularly and keep its height as high as recommended for your grass species. This will help keep moisture in your lawn and in your soil. It will also help moderate the soil temperature, which will discourage chinch bugs from moving in .
Chinch Bug Damage Repair
Suppose your lawn has been ruined by chinch bugs, the easiest way to fix this would be to do the following best practices:
- Water more often
- Use turfgrass thats resistant to chinch bugs
- Apply pesticides
- Fertilize new grass
- Overseed damaged areas with perennial ryegrasses, fescues, and similar grass types
Remember, chinch bugs damage is often confused with drought damage. Read the first introductory paragraph to understand the differences between chinch bug and drug damage. The lawn can grow back even after chinch bug damage. But you should really look for the color of grass:
If its yellow, the grass should recover. Any other color thats darker wont and youll have to reseed the lawn to get your grass back.
One type of grass thats debated highly against using is St. Augustine grass, AKA Stenotaphrum secundatum. The reason is that chinch bugs prefer eating this type of grass and youre just asking for trouble. This grass is often grown through zones 8 through 10.
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Where Can Chinch Bugs Be Found In The Us
In North America, there are several chinch bugs that prey on turfgrasses. The most common pest of northern turfgrasses is the hairy chinch bug, but the common chinch bug can also be found.
The Common Chinch Bug may be found from South Dakota to Virginia and south to a line ranging from mid-Texas to mid-Georgia.
The Hairy Chinch Bug shares some of the common chinch bugs northern habitat, but it also inhabits parts of the Northeastern United States and Southern Canada.
The Southern Chinch Bug and Western Chinch Bug are native to the Southern and Western regions of the US, as their names imply.
Bug Killer And Triazicide
If the pests get really bad, consider using standard bug killer made for chinch bugs and other lawn pests. Triazicide is another popular choice that works well for chinch bugs.
What pesticide kills chinch bugs?
You should also look into Sunniland, Bayer, Ortho, and others. Do your research should you go down this route since now youre not using natural methods anymore and this could pose a harmful substance to your lawn.
Suppose the bugs are going crazy on your lawn, what do you do?
The best way to go about this is to use insecticidal soap, which you can grab at any garden shop. Go for the organic variety if possible, or at least all-natural one. A lot of brands offer a natural solution which will be much better for your lawn, children, and pets.
Look for solutions containing bifenthrin and/or acephate. Also, look for something in a granulated form rather than a spray. You can apply granular with a spreader thats used for fertilizer. Be sure to use as directed until the population of the pests reduces significantly.
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What Do Chinch Bugs Look Like
These bugs are easy to recognize, but hard to see as the adults are only inch long. They have black bodies with a distinct white stripe across their bodies and white wings that fold across their backs. The nymphs start out yellow and turn red as they mature, but its unlikely youll be able to see them with a naked eye.
We Recommend Hiring A Company To Professionally Treat It Because:
The good news is that one commercial application of chinch bug treatment typically controls 90% of the existing infestation. A follow up application should happen 2-4 weeks after the first to seal the deal.
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How Do Chinch Bugs Kill Your Lawn
Its not the chinch themselves that are the problem, rather its what they eat. They are sap-sucking insects. They require the nutrients found in sugary sap. Their vegetation of choice is grass and in particular, red fescue and Kentucky bluegrass, which make up over 80% of the lawns in Canada and cool-season climates.
After literally sucking the life out of the crown and stem of turf grass, they inject a toxin which kills the remaining plant
Why Systemics Are Better For Lawn Care Than Pyrethroids
While pyrethroids or contact insecticides work for chinch bug control you have to make an application come back in a week inspect for chinch bugs and nymphs and re spray if you find any, come back in a week and do it again. This is the only way you can be sure you got control and then for how long. In addition to that chinch bugs are now resistant to many pyrethroids.
Systemics targets the chinch bug directly and indirectly, it acts as contact when the chinch bug come in contact with the insecticide but gives you long term control of nymphs and adult because it enter the plants vascular system through the roots. When a cinch bug is born it will have to feed on the plant which is contaminated with the pesticide, when it feeds that is its last meal. End of story.
With systemics you get long term control and quick knock down. In the past 6 years since we have used systemics we only get an average of 2 call backs per route per year.
We apply it every 2 months at the mid dose range. I put no trust in any product I trust in my knowledge, experience and expertise. I inspect, monitor and repeat to ensure the products are working.
We use and recommend Dominion 2L why because it works as well as any brand name systemic at a lower cost.
One 27.5 bottle is enough to treat 55,000 square feet at the mid level dose.
Order Dominion 2L Systemic Insecticide
Dominion 2L Termiticide/Insecticide
Enjoy a pest free lawn Cheers!
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How Can I Get Rid Of Chinch Bugs
Chinch bugs like poorly tended lawns with compacted soils, accumulations of thatch, and a lack of moisture or an excess of nitrogen. Maintaining your lawn properly will discourage infestations and improve tolerance to damage. Some helpful practices include the following:
- If replanting grass, choose an insect-resistant, endophytic variety of tall fescue or rye grass .
- Aerate the lawn in spring to reduce soil compaction.
- Remove thick layers of thatch in the fall. Keep in mind that some thatch may be needed to prevent winterkill in cold regions.
- Do not over-fertilize, since this will encourage greater insect activity.
- Use water-insoluble or slow-release nitrogen fertilizers. Using 1 kg of nitrogen per 100 m2 should be enough for most lawns.
- Water the lawn thoroughly during the summer.
- Keep soil moist to a depth of 6 to 8 cm .
- Do not cut the grass too short. A length of 6 to 7.5 cm will help avoid stressing the grass.
- Add agricultural limestone when the soil pH is below 6.5.
