Chinch Bugs #1 Enemy of St. Augustine Grass

Every weekend you’re out there tending to your lawn, weeding, watering and spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on food and fertilizer to make it the pride and the envy of the neighborhood only to one day discover the grass inexplicably turning yellow, then reddish-brown and finally dying. This is the foul work of the chinch bug. A complex of three different species within the same family, chinch bugs have piercing-sucking mouthparts and they feed on the sap of grass plants.

The chinch bug inserts its straw-like mouthparts into the plant tissue and sucks out the plant juices while injecting chemicals that clog the grass’ vascular system. The area around the feeding puncture turns yellow. Damaged areas first appear as small, irregular patches that enlarge as these pests spread. The chinch bug is the #1 pest of St. Augustine grass.

Florida’s Own Chinch Bug

Florida, of course, has its own native chinch bug, the Blissus insularis, or southern chinch bug. Adult southern chinch bugs are about 1/8 to 1/10 of an inch long. Their wings are folded flat against the back and are shiny white with a triangular-shaped black marking in the middle of the outer edge of each wing. Adults may have long or short wings. Adult females may live up to

two months and lay four or five eggs a day, or 250-300 eggs in a lifetime.
Southern chinch bug activity occurs year round in South Florida, so vigilance is important. It is estimated that seven to 10 generations a year develop in our area.

Damage May Occur Anywhere

Damage may occur in open, sunny areas near walkways and driveways but also in the middle of the lawn. Other factors, including disease, nematodes, nutritional imbalances and drought can cause off-color areas to occur in lawns, so you need to carefully examine the grass to determine which corrective measures may be needed.
Examine the grass in the marginal areas of injured patches, not in the clearly dead grass. Spread the grass gently with your fingers and look in the thatch, near the soil surface. On warm days, chinch bugs are usually very active, so you’ll be able to see them scurrying around.
Another way to detect chinch bugs is to remove both ends of a large tin can, such as a coffee can, soften the soil a bit with water, insert one end of the can into the ground about two-three inches deep, leaving four inches above the ground, and then fill the can with water. If chinch bugs are present, they will float to the surface of the water after about five minutes.

How To Combat Chinch Bugs

Common natural enemies of the southern chinch bug are big-eyed bugs, predatory earwigs and spiders. However, homeowners, lawn care companies and sod growers seek to prevent damage by applying insecticides to keep chinch bug populations low. It is recommended that an integrated pest management program, or insecticide resistance management program, be implemented to keep grass healthy and eliminate these pests. The trained technicians at Insect Protection Pest Control can help you identify chinch bugs and design a program that will keep your lawn both the pride and envy of your neighborhood. Call them today for a FREE consultation.
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