Do you have chinch bugs in your lawn and you are wondering what causes chinch bugs? They can be a disaster for your lawn. Get rid of Chinch Bugs with the help of the steps mentioned here.
If you are still dealing with drought in your garden, despite adequately watering it, it may be infested with chinch bugs. These tiny creatures can patch up your garden, which can lead to many problems.
If you are worried about these garden bugs, read on to discover everything about getting rid of them. Learn how to make your garden chinch-free with the tips mentioned in the article.
How to identify chinch bugs
Chinch bugs are a type of bug that lives in the family Chinchidae. These bugs typically have small, black bodies and white wings.
Chinch bugs are a type of bug that lives in the green ash tree. They can often be found on the lower branches of the tree.
Chinch bugs get their name from their wings which look like circles or “chins” because of their shape.
The bug has a small, red body and a long, black head. Its antennae are long and its legs are long. The bug is albid (having pale coloration) and it lives in central California.
They are sometimes called “pink chinchbugs” because they are often found with pink markings on their bodies.
Chinch bugs can be dangerous to humans and other animals, but they are also very common.
What Are Chinch Bugs?
Chinch bugs are small in size, yet they are swift in wrecking grass.
These pesky bugs are about 0.25 inches in size. You can find them thriving in dry and sunny climates.
- Chinch bugs prefer to take over lawns with inadequate watering at the edges and direct sunlight on them.
- These bugs are usually on a diet of wheat, corn, thatch, and grains. They also suck on the blades of grass and infect them with toxins.
- Grass can be entirely ruined due to the presence of chinch bugs. Hence, you need to act swiftly and efficiently in order to save your garden.
The scientific name of the chinch bug is Blissus leucopterus, and they belong to the family of Blissadae and the order Hemiptera.
These bugs take refuge in protective coverings like roadsides and hedgerows in winter. They disappear in the cold and return in the spring season for feeding and breeding.
Also read- How To Get Rid Of Colorado Potato Beetle
Types of Chinch Bugs
Two types of chinch bugs are commonly found in the United States.
Common Chinch Bugs
Chinch bugs enjoy feeding on wheat and corn. They also prefer to consume turf grasses.
Hairy Chinch Bugs
These bugs mainly occur in the northern turf grasses like perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, and fescues. They are one of the most destructive among all the chinch bugs.
Why Are Chinch Bugs Problematic?
Yes, the presence of chinch bugs can create a disaster in your garden. They feed on different grasses and suck the sap off the stems and crowns.
- During the summer season, chinch bugs can lead to a lot of damage. Sometimes, the damage done by these bugs is also mistaken as a result of drought.
- When a garden becomes infested with chinch bugs, you can see irregular patches of yellow color. As the damage gets prevalent, it takes up a brown color, and the grass may die with it.
If you have a high infestation of chinch bugs, it can lead to the destruction of an entire garden.
what causes chinch bugs?
Chinch bugs (Hemiptera: Chinchaeidae) are a type of bug that lives around the world in a variety of habitats.
- My yard has chinch bugs because of the cold weather. The bugs are attracted to the warm, wet ground.
- Another reason is that they are attracted to the sugar that is present in the sap of the chinch bug.
- The bugs get their sustenance from eating the sap, which makes it difficult for them to survive in hot weather.
- One more top reason is that they need to eat caterpillars. Chinch bugs have a hard time eating other insects because they don’t have a lot of teeth.
- If you have too much nitrogen in your soil and in your garden lawn, they get attracted to this.
Some people also believe they may be responsible for causing severe plant problems, such as stunting and loss of growth, due to their larval feeding habits and yellowing of plants.
How To Get Rid of Chinch Bugs
To get rid of chinch bugs, you can use the help of three bugs.
- Identification of the Chinch Bugs
- Inspection of the Chinch Bugs
- Elimination of the Chinch Bugs
1. Identification of Chinch Bugs
You should first focus your attention on identifying these bugs. You must ensure that the pest is a bug and not something else.
If the identification is not done correctly, it is a waste of your time, effort, and money.
Discover the external characteristics of chinch bugs to identify them correctly.
- In the different stages of growth, chinch bugs have some differences in their appearance.
- They are tiny in size and are about ⅕ of an inch in size.
- They have a hard body that is oval in shape.
- Their wings are of black and white color with a triangular shape within them.
- Their legs are of an orangish and brownish color.
2. Inspection of Chich Bugs
The second process revolves around inspection. You need to check the severity of the infestation of these bugs by scrutinizing the hotspots and areas where they are concentrated in.
Take a walk around your garden and see the damage caused by these bugs just like Harlequin, Termites, and Scales. Chinch bugs form a pattern of destruction. Hence, they are easy to inspect.
You will find these pesky bugs lurking in the hottest part of your garden or near a heat source like a sidewalk or driveway.
Gardens with chinch bugs are more likely to be brown or yellow in color. You may even observe large patches of grass that are dead.
Method To Inspect:
- Go to the area where the grass is dead.
- Take a coffee can, and insert three inches in the ground.
- Pull it out and add water to it.
- You will see the bugs floating on top of the water if they are present in the soil.
3. Elimination of Chinch Bugs
Here are some ways to get rid of chinch bugs.
1. Start Using Pesticides
There are many different granular as well as liquid insecticides that are used to get rid of chinch bugs. You can use a broad-spectrum insecticide that can help in killing them.
Liquid sprays are applied with the help of a hose-end sprayer. Taking care of uniform coverage, you spray the entire area back and forth.
You can water the grass before the administration of the liquid spray, as it can help in the penetration of this insecticide. However, it is strongly recommended not to water them after the application of the insecticide.
Insecticides are not to be applied once, but twice. The first time will kill the adult chinch bugs but not the eggs. The second spray should be done after a few weeks to kill the bugs that have hatched from the eggs.
It would be best to look for ingredients like lambda-cyhalothrin, cyfluthrin, permethrin, bifenthrin, and permethrin in insecticides, as they can effectively get rid of chinch bugs.
2. Do Spot Treatments with Pesticides
If these bugs are present in an isolated area of the garden, you can opt for spot treatment with pesticides. You can inspect all the discolored infected areas and patches and apply spot treatment there.
Keep tabs on the infestation and check it every two days until two weeks. Due to spot treatments, the contamination of the environment is minimized, and it also helps in protecting the insects that are good for the plants.
3. Use Dish Soap
Dish soap can effectively get rid of chinch bugs. Pesticides are not a safe option if you have pets and kids at house.
If you have some fruits or vegetables growing in the garden, they can also get airborne traces of pesticides. You can make a concoction of dish soap and water. Mix it up properly and spray it on the infected area.
How Can I Prevent An Infestation Of Chinch Bugs?
When you are done eliminating chinch bugs, you need to ensure their prevention. Some ways to prevent them from re-infesting the chinch bugs are mentioned below.
Do Not Mow More Than ⅓ of the Grass
During the mowing process, make sure that you do not mow more than one-third of the grass. When the grass blades are less than one-third in length, they are more prone to infestations.
Make Sure The Thatch Layer is at a Minimum
Thatch is the dead grass that is situated between the soil and the top of the grass. Thatch offers a safe place for chinch bugs.
You need to ensure that the garden is well-maintained and in good condition. If you want to prevent the grass from future infestations, you must ensure that the thatch is kept at a minimum.
Due to the minimum level of thatch, the control measures would be more effective.
Provide Adequate Water To Your Garden
Overwatering or underwatering your plants can turn out to be bad for your plants. Chinch bugs can appear due to too much or too little water.
If your garden does not have sufficient water, it will be vulnerable to chinch bugs as they like dry and hot areas.
If you overwater the garden, this will result in oxygen-depleted soils that would be unable to support the microorganisms that are needed for the decomposition of thatch.
Conclusion
Though these bugs are small in size, they can be disastrous for your garden.
Taking care of the garden and protecting it from infestation may be challenging, but using proper methods and techniques can help.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Does Grass Grow Back After The Infestation Of Chinch Bugs?
In most cases, the grass infested with chinch bugs can regrow with proper maintenance and care.
However, if the damage is too extensive, you may have trouble growing it back.
Q: Do Chinch Bugs Fly?
Yes, chinch bugs do have wings, and they can fly. Furthermore, they are pretty good at flying.
These pesky bugs can efficiently make their way from one place to another.
Q: How Many Eggs Can A Female Chinch Bug Lay?
In the summer season, the females can lay around two hundred eggs on grass blades.
When the little ones are hatched, they will suck on the sap of stem and grass, leading to the yellowing of the grass, and ultimately turning brown.
Q: Do chinch bugs bite?
Chinch bugs (Aralia chrysolopha) are a small, brightly colored bug that can be found throughout much of North America.
Some people believe that they may be able to bite, but they are not harmful to humans and pets.
Q: Does Triazicide kill chinch bugs?
Q: What time of year is best to treat chinch bugs?
A variety of times of the year are best to treat chinchbugs, depending on their location.
The most effective time to treating chinchbugs is in the early summer when they grow fully and matured.
Q: Does Dawn dish soap kill chinch bugs?
Chinch bugs are known to be a nuisance in many homes, but one family may have had their worries validated after discovering their home had been infested with the insects.
The family noticed that some of their dishes were coming out clean, but when they washed them again, they found that the dishes contained a deadly parasitic worm.
Dawn dish soap is effective at killing parasitic worms, so it’s possible that this waschitum bug problem may have been solved with its use.
Q: Will lawn grow back after chinch bugs?
Lawns can often grow back after being damaged by chinch bugs, but it is important to remember that lawn growth will be slowed down and may even stop completely.
Lawn care professionals should also be prepared to address any issues that may arise as a result of the bug’s damage.
My name is Olivia, staying in the United States, and I love to have plants in my garden. Lots of plants are there in my balcony, indoor and outdoor garden also. Here I am trying to share useful tips on gardening, how to grow and care for various plants, etc. Check out more.
