False Chinch Bug 



METHODS OF CONTROL 



Clean Culture 



In the control of the false chinch bug preventive measures give more 

 satisfactory results than the application of any remedy yet devised. As 

 has already been intimated, this insect breeds upon various wild plants, 

 especially shepherd's-purse and other closely related plants of the mus- 

 tard family. By preventing these weeds from growing about fields, 

 ditch banks and roadsides the multiplication of the false chinch bug in 

 a vicinity will be materially checked. 



Burning 



The bugs probably spend the winter in hibernation beneath dead 

 weeds and about the roots of grasses growing on waste land. If all un- 

 plowed land is cleaned up during the winter and early spring by burning 

 all dead vegetation the hibernating bugs will be destroyed. If straw 

 is spread over the ground and burned the treatment is often more effec- 

 tive. Many other injurious insects which spend the winter in hiberna- 

 tion in the same locations as the false chinch bug will be destroyed at 

 the same time. 



Hand Picking 



Hand picking under certain conditions will serve to prevent the 

 insect from injuring a crop. In catching the bugs a wide-mouthed dish 

 of some kind should be used. Place a small quantity of water in this to 

 which a little kerosene has been added. By suddenly slapping the 

 infested plants the bugs can be knocked into the water and kerosene. 

 The latter soon kills them. When the dead bugs cover the surface of 

 the liquid skim them off. Whether or not this method of control is 

 practicable will depend upon the value of the crop and the labor required. 

 It is doubtful if it will pay in the case of large fields. In order that it be 

 most effective the work must be done during the early morning or 

 cool days, as in bright sunny weather the bugs are so active that they 

 scatter upon the approach of the worker, so that but a small proportion 

 are caught. 



Sticky Shields 



Sticky shields* carried through the fields have been used with some 

 success. The same question of crop and labor values makes this a doubt- 

 ful method except for small plots of very valuable crops and crops grown 

 for experimental purposes. 



Spraying 



Various sprays have been employed, with rather indifferent results. 

 Mr. F. B. Milliken* reports the killing of this pest by spraying with 

 whale oil soap, one pound of soap to five gallons of water. According to 



*F. B M ! !cen, "'The False Chinch Bug and Measures for Controlling It." Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 762. U. S. Department of Agriculture (1916). 



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