Identifying & Eliminating Chinch Bugs in St. Augustine
Wherever St. Augustine grass grows in Texas, it is susceptible to chinch bugs. Billions of dollars’ worth of damage occurs to St. Augustine grass every year thanks to the Blissus insularis Barber, commonly called the chinch bug. They are a major concern for homeowners in Southlake, Euless and beyond.
Sometimes the damage caused by these pests is misdiagnosed as brown patch or drought. This only causes a delay to treating the real problem, so early identification and treatment are key if you want to bring this pesky issue under control with minimal damage.
How to Identify Chinch Bugs in Your Lawn
Chinch bugs are small. When full grown, they are about three-sixteenths of an inch in length. Their bodies are black and their white wings feature a triangular-shaped black mark at the edge. Perhaps their most disturbing feature is their mouth, which is specially shaped for sucking. They attach themselves to the base of glass blades and feed voraciously.
As is the case with many pests, chinch bugs are dormant in the winter but become active as temperatures warm up. They can produce approximately three to five new generations each summer, enabling them to spread damage to your St. Augustine grass with surprising speed.
Types of Lawn Damage Chinch Bugs Cause
Most homeowners first notice a problem when they spot a circular brown patch in the midst of their lawn in middle or late summer. This is why the problem is often confused with the brown patch fungal disease. If you want to find out if your St. Augustine grass is infested with chinch bugs, try this trick.
Cut both ends off of an empty coffee can, then push one end of the coffee can into the center of a dying brown patch. Fill the can with water, observing to see what floats to the surface. If you see small black bugs and larvae, then you may very well have a chinch bug infestation. The other way you can know for certain that you have chinch bugs is by giving us a call. We can diagnose your chinch bug problem and devise a treatment method that will help you get rid of this infestation for good. We may broadcast a turf builder, remove excess thatch or suggest other remedies.
If you have St. Augustine grass and suspect that you have lawn pests, then give us a call. We can quickly and accurately diagnose the problem, and then we can get your lawn back to healthy.
