If you own a home in Tampa Florida and take care of your St. Augustine lawn, you've probably heard of chinch bugs. These tiny insects are notorious for destroying thousands of Florida lawns in very short periods of time, costing residents thousands.
WHAT ARE THEY?
Chinch bugs are the number one turfgrass pest for lawns in Florida. They feed on the sap from the stem of St. Augustine grass, sucking the nutrients out of the grass and injecting poison in the process. Due to their high reproduction rate, chinch bugs may destroy an entire lawn in a matter of months.
WHAT CAUSES THEM?
They can migrate from anywhere, but typically
they fly in from a neighboring yard with an infestation. Areas with high sun exposure, as well as dry and unhealthy grass are very susceptible to an infestation.
HOW TO FIND THEM
As shown in the picture above, the chinch bugs leave a path of dead grass behind them. The grass that is currently infested along the border is usually has an unhealthy yellow/brown color. The best place to look for them is along this border of the healthy and dead grass. Chinch bugs also tend to like hot areas that get a lot of sunshine such as sidewalk edges, driveways, curbing, etc. You can inspect for chinch bugs either by using your hands to push apart the blades, or simply ripping out a section of grass along the border, then shaking out the thatch and soil on the sidewalk to watch them crawl out. You may see chinch bugs in varying stages ranging from nymphs (baby chinch bugs) with an orange color and a white stripe across their back, to adults with black and white wings.
HOW TO TREAT THEM
The smartest way to fix a chinch bug infestation is to contact a professional pest control company as soon as possible to stop the progression of the pests and save the healthy remains of the lawn. If an infestation is stopped quick enough, the lawn will recover with a professional's help. However, if the treatment is delayed, a large part of the lawn may not be salvageable and the home owner may have to re sod these areas. Also, if chinch bugs are established in a lawn for long enough, they will lay eggs, ensuing another infestation the coming months.
At Greenland, we are dedicated to fighting chinch bugs to keep our customers' lawns as healthy as possible. We put time and effort into pre checking lawns for infestations. If it is determined that there indeed is one, we have the proper formulas and treatments to help your lawn recover and grow green and healthy again. We service most areas in Tampa Fl so click on the link below to learn more!
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