Scotts standard spreader for insecticide
Thatch is the layer of dead plant material found between the green tops of the grass plant and the soil below. By keeping thatch to a minimum, for example, you reduce chinch bug numbers and make other control methods more effective. Managing this pest begins with proper lawn care.
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Chinch bug damage is probably due not just to the direct effects of feeding, but also to phytotoxic effects of the saliva. Mouthparts of the southern chinch bug consist of a long, slender beak, which is held close to the midline of the insect’s underside when the bug is not feeding. However, as the season progresses, generations tend to overlap, so all stages are found at the same time. This rapid development allows time for three to five chinch bug generations each year. T he nymphal (immature) stage lasts less than 30 days during warmer weather, while the entire life cycle lasts 7 to 8 weeks. Under optimal conditions, each female can deposit up to 300 eggs, which hatch in approximately 2 weeks. Reproduction begins with warmer weather in the spring. Before the last molt, nymphs are black or brownish-black, and have a white spot and two small wing pads on their backs.Īdult chinch bugs in Texas are inactive during the winter. After each molt the nymphs more closely resemble the adults. (More details on distinguishing chinch bugs from the common beneficial insect – the big-eyed bug – are in “Tips for Professionals” below.) Recently hatched nymphs are wingless, yellow or pinkish-red with a light-colored band across their backs (abdomen). Other ones will be short-winged and cannot fly. Normally, some of the adults at any given site will have full-sized, functional wings. They have black bodies with white wings, each of which bears a distinctive, triangular black mark. Detecting significant numbers of the insects themselves is the best proof of chinch bug damage.Īdult southern chinch bugs are small and slender, measuring ⅙ to ⅕ of an inch long. Chinch bug damage also can be difficult to distinguish from that caused by drought.
#Scotts standard spreader for insecticide Patch
Brown patch symptoms, however, usually occur in a circular or semi-circular pattern, as opposed to the irregular-shaped areas of dead and dying grass that result from chinch bug feeding. For example, brown patch is a common disease affecting the leaf blades of St. Damage can develop rapidly, especially in sunny locations during hot, dry weather (Figure 1).Ĭhinch bug damage can be confused with certain lawn diseases or other physiological disorders. These islands of dying grass tend to increase in size and merge as insect numbers increase. IdentificationĮxpanding, irregular patches of dead or stunted grass surrounded by a halo of yellowing, dying chinch bugs.
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This species also occasionally damages turfgrass and may be responsible for infrequent reports of chinch bugs in bermudagrass, fescue and zoysiagrass lawns. The common chinch bug, Blissus leucopterus leucopterus (Say), is a closely-related species that is a pest of grain crops in Texas and throughout the Midwest. Augustinegrass lawns, the southern chinch bug occasionally may feed on zoysiagrass, centipedegrass, bahiagrass or bermudagrass. Augustinegrass is grown, causing most damage in the Gulf Coast region and in the southern half of the state.Īlthough it is a serious pest only on St. The southern chinch bug, Blissus insularis Barber, is one of the most important insect pests of St.