These bugs over-winter as adults in protected areas such as under shrubs, in leaf litter and thick thatch layers. False chinch bug adults are gray, while the immatures are a pale gray with a reddish abdomen. Description of the Pest. The length of the adult chinch bug life span differ … False Chinch bugs are less than 1/4 inch long, brownish gray, narrow bodied true bugs. False chinch bugs (Nysius raphanus) are small, grayish insects that sometimes become extremely abundant. Natural predators and parasites serve to keep chinch bug numbers under control: The big-eyed bug likes to dine on its relative, the chinch bug. While immature, they have inconspicuous red markings on their body. CHINCH BUGS: PREVENTION AND CONTROL Illustration: Andrew Hebda, Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. Although the southern chinch bug sometimes overwinters in a temporary dormant condition in north Florida, this insect typically remains active during the winter, sheltered around the roots and base of St. Augustinegrass. The length of the adult chinch bug life span differ … Horseradish is commonly attacked during droughts and responds to the bug's feeding with frostlike injury to leaf tips and edges. Southern chinch bugs are small and slender with white wings with distinctive black triangular marks. Chinch Bugs: What Homeowners Need to Know. The tiny wasp will live off of chinch bug eggs under favourable conditions, preventing them from hatching. 3 Responses to Probably Immature False Chinch Bugs from Arizona. It looks similar to the chinch bug, but has a wider body, larger head and large predominant eyes. The southern chinch bug, Blissus insularis Barber, is an insect pest of St. Augustinegrass, Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) UC Management Guidelines for False Chinch Bug on Grape. Chinch Bugs Defined. These bugs over-winter as adults in protected areas such as under shrubs, in leaf litter and thick thatch layers. Life Cycle. Kuntze, a turf and pasture grass grown throughout the southern United States. Chinch bug, (Blissus leucopterus), important grain and corn pest belonging to the insect family Lygaeidae (order Heteroptera). They are sometimes confused with the beneficial insect bigeyed bugs which have wider flatter heads. If your lawn has too much, then chinch bug populations can increase. Chinch bugs are a common lawn pest that can do a lot of damage to your grass. The southern chinch bug thrives during the warm, damp summer months, and infestations peak in early July (Kerr 1966). DAMAGE: They feed on weeds of the mustard family such as London Rocket. Jones told the Range News that the false chinch bugs are harmless to people, ... “They do have a shorter life span; they could live one to two months. Let’s learn more about chinch bugs, how to know you have them and how to get rid of them if they are in your yard. The chinch bug (Blissus insularis) lays over 250 eggs during her lifetime, which is about 4 eggs per day. Thankfully they had no interest in coming in my house as … Sara says: May 1, 2014 at 5:52 pm. There are three varieties of chinch bugs that belong to the Lygaeidae insect family. During periods of extreme hot, dry weather they also may move to the relative cool of buildings and incidentally enter them. Life cycle of chinch bugs: Chinch bugs develop through three different stages: Egg, nymph and adult. Chinch bug, (Blissus leucopterus), important grain and corn pest belonging to the insect family Lygaeidae (order Heteroptera). Chinch bug adults are about 1/6 inch long, and black and white in color. Controlling chinch bugs begins with good cultural practices but may have to end with chemical intervention. The adult southern chinch bug has a black body the wings are white with a black spot on the margins of the forewings. These insects become particularly numerous during … It is a small bug… Chinch bug life cycle. The false chinch bug is multivoltine, with up to three generations per year, and overwintering may occur in all life stages under leaf litter and other plant residue in uncultivated fields (Demirel and Cranshaw 2006b, Cranshaw 2007).