CIRCULAR No. 51 ISSUED APRIL 1929 



SLIGHTLY REVISED OCTOBER 1937 

 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 WASHINGTON, D. C. 



THE CHINCH BUG IN RELATION TO ST. AUGUSTINE 



GRASS 



By R. N. Wilson, 1 entomological assistant, Division of Cereal and Forage 

 Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



General description 1 



Importance of damage 3 



Where and when injury occurs 3 



Manner of injury 3 



Plants attacked 4 



Stages and life cycle 4 



Number of generations 4 



Hibernation 4 



Natural enemies of the chinch bug. 



Natural checks 



Disease- 



Rain __. 



Control measures 



Watchfulness 



Insecticides 



Cultural methods 



Page 

 4 

 5 

 5 

 5 

 5 

 5 



INTRODUCTION 



Much damage is clone by chinch bugs (Blissus leucopterus Say) 

 each year to St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) in the 

 extreme southeastern portion of the United States. There, becauce 

 of its ability to grow on very poor soil, thrive in shady places, and 

 remain green at a comparatively low temperature, St. Augustine 

 grass is much prized for lawns, parks, and golf courses, the area of 

 which totals many thousands of acres. Injury to it by chinch bugs, 

 however, has become so severe that in some sections the growing of 

 this grass has been practically abandoned, in spite of the fact that 

 the chinch bugs may be controlled by methods that are simple and 

 easily applied. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 



Two forms of the adult chinch bug, the long-winged (fig. 1, G) and 

 the short- winged (fig. 2), occur in Florida, and these vary in relative 

 numbers during the year. The wings of the long-winged form 

 reach almost to the end of the abdomen, whereas those of the short- 

 winged form are more or less abbreviated. The body is black and 

 almost one-fifth of an inch long; the wings are white with a black 

 spot on the margin of each wing of the upper pair, and the legs and 

 bases of the antennae are red. 



The eggs (fig. 1, A) are very small, long, and oval, the top being 

 squarely cut off and surmounted with four small projections or 

 tubercles. They are whitish at first, but gradually turn to amber 



i Resigned Nov. 20, 1916. 

 18091°— 37 



