Chinch Bug
Color: Adults are gray-black body with fine hairs, white wings, and reddish legs. Young Chinch bugs are brick-red with a transverse white band across the back.
Length: Adults are about 1/6″ inch long, while the young are about half the size of a pinhead.
Chinch bugs (also known as cinch bugs) are a pest that lives above the soil and feeds on living grass plants. The Chinch bug feeds by piercing the grass blade, stem or crown, and injecting it with its toxic saliva, and then removing out the plant’s sap. Damage made by the Chinch will leave the grass under attack looking yellow and with patches of dead grass. In the case of a severe infestation, the entire lawn can turn brown and die off. Chinch bugs attack in the heat and can cause serious damage in a few days and devastate an entire lawn in a few weeks.
