Chinch Bugs
Species
Chinch Bug
Chinch Bug Facts
- Size: adults are a little under 1/5 inch long. Newly hatched nymphs are smaller than a pinhead and grow with each molt.
- Color and Appearance: young nymphs are bright red-orange. They darken as they grow, and adults are black with whitish wings.
Chinch Bug Appearance and Behavior
These pests are true bugs that live on grass. They do not chew. They feed by drinking sap from the stems and crowns, and a large population left alone can kill whole sections of a lawn. They are small enough to go unseen until the grass begins to fail. Caught early, though, they can be held to levels that do little harm.
Spotting the Southern Chinch Bug
In Florida, the chinch bug that matters is the southern chinch bug, the most damaging insect pest of St. Augustinegrass in the state. It feeds on other lawn grasses too, but rarely causes serious damage outside St. Augustine lawns.
Identification: adults are slender and black, with white wings folded flat over the back. Each wing has a small black triangular mark, so the back looks black with white patches. Some adults have full-length wings and some have short ones. The youngest nymphs are bright orange-red with a pale band across the abdomen, then darken with each molt. Because they are so small, they are easiest to see by parting the grass and looking at the soil surface and thatch.
A look-alike worth knowing: the big-eyed bug is about the same size and lives in the same lawns, but it is grayish with a wider head and large, bulging eyes. It is a predator that eats chinch bugs, so it is worth telling the two apart.
Where they live and what they eat: chinch bugs spend their lives in the thatch layer and at the base of grass stems, sucking sap. They favor hot, sunny parts of the lawn and grass that is already stressed.
Season in Florida: several overlapping generations develop each year. Populations build and damage is most common from spring through fall, and in South Florida they can stay active through the winter. The chinch bug infestation page explains how to confirm them.
Chinch bugs have needle-like mouthparts made for piercing plant tissue. Females tuck their eggs into leaf sheaths and thatch, laying a few at a time over several weeks. Nymphs hatch and pass through five growth stages before they become adults. In hot weather the whole cycle takes roughly a month, and it slows down when temperatures drop.
Chinch bugs gather in groups, so damage starts in spots rather than across the whole lawn. Most spread by walking from dying grass to fresh grass nearby, though long-winged adults can fly to new areas. Crushed chinch bugs give off a strong, unpleasant smell.
Bugs Species
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