We are receiving many calls and have confirmed widespread Chinchbug activity and damage taking place!

What you need to know.

Chinch bugs are a plant-sucking pest.  They suck the sugars and juices out of grass and when done spit an acidic toxin back into the plant causing burning and plant death if left untreated.

Many of our customers receive an insect control on our second service visit.  Many do not!  We never recommend services that aren’t warranted.  However, this year seems to be an extremely dry and hot year.  Given the past few years have been similar to this year we believe that the populations that we are now seeing all over are because of the ideal weather conditions for their development.  

Typically you will not notice these pests causing damage in the spring due to the additional moisture Mother Nature usually provides.  

If you have brown spots on your lawn it could very well be chinch bugs.  Lawns are already drought-stressed due to the lack of rainfall.  If you do not have an insect control scheduled for your lawn we recommend you consider adding it.  

Since we are not on your property every day we cannot provide you with daily updates on the progress of your lawn.  We can tell you what to look for and if you feel that you may have damage we recommend a treatment ASAP.  

Look for a patchy appearance on your lawn.  The bugs will only be in full sun areas and not typically in shaded areas.  Most Chinch bug infestations usually go unnoticed and passed off as drought stress. 

  Please look at your lawn and if you have any concerns please reply and attach a photo of your lawn if you can of the areas in question.  We can sometimes make a determination with just a photo.  These bugs are extremely small and you will need to get on your hands and knees to see them.  Stare at the ground and look in areas where the grass is brown and dormant looking.  Typically they will be on the border of green grass and brown grass.  They will be 2-5 mm in length.  Nymphs (babies) are smaller and red with a white stripe across their backs.  As they mature you will notice wings.  They do not fly.  Please see the image above for proper identification. 

If you are concerned please let us know and we can set up a service call to visit your property and perform a positive or negative diagnosis for you.  Please note it may take a few days for us to get to you as we are experiencing higher than normal service call requests right now.

Click the link below to see a video on what they look like.  We intend to send another email soon to further explain what to look for.