If you live outside of Iowa please do not submit a sample without contacting the Plant & Insect Diagnostic Clinic. Please see our website for current forms,В fees,В and instructions on preserving and mailing insects.Д¬ontact information for each states diagnostic laboratory forВ U.S. The Iowa State UniversityВ Plant & Insect Diagnostic Clinic will identify your insect, provide information on what it eats, life cycle, and if it is a pest the best ways to manage them. Do you live in Iowa and have an insect you would like identified? For information on garden insecticides please see this article. Insecticide selection would vary with the crop or treatment site. Thresholds for this insect are not known, but in drought-stressed fields and vegetable crops, presence of large populations and apparent damage might warrant treatment. Winter is spent in both the adult and nymph stages. Populations build in spring and early summer among вЂњweeds and other uncultivated plants.вЂќ The bugs migrate into crops when the original host plants become less succulent. Nymphs feed and grow for about 3 weeks before transforming to adults. Eggs are laid on foliage or soil and hatch in 4 days. This insect has 4 or 5 generations per summer. Symptoms may vary greatly among host plants. Sap feeding damage by this pest generally appears as wilting and death of the plant leaves. Samples sent to ISU have been from soybean, alfalfa, set-aside acres, fencerows, gardens and lawns. Life cycle and damage caused byВ false chinch bugsДЇalse chinch bug is a вЂњgeneral feederвЂќ that feeds on sap from a variety of host plants, including vegetables, weeds and other plants.

Two or three tiny black spots are present on each wing on a diagonal line 2/3rds of the way back. The wings are white to clear and extend slightly beyond the end of the abdomen. The front half of the adult appears plain black. The adults are similar in shape and head characteristics and are 3.5 mm long. The four-segmented antennae are prominent. The head comes to a point in front of the eyes, and the slender beak extends backward from the point along the insectвЂ™s underside.

The head is black with reddish-brown, beady eyes bulging to the sides. The shiny thoracic segments are mottled tan and black on top, but with a noticeable white line down the middle of the segments. Toward the sides and front of the abdomen are the wing pads that have black tips. They appear orangish or reddish brown, especially on the abdomen. Soybean leaves killed by false chinch bugsДЇalse chinch bug nymphs are quite small, 2-3 mm long, and pointed-oval in shape. Apply a pesticide, such as BioAdvanced Complete Insect Killer for. Most turf-type pesticides will kill chinch bugs, but check the label to be sure. Outbreaks are associated with dry weather. Kill chinch bugs with broad-spectrum pesticide. When outbreaks do occur, large numbers or вЂњswarmsвЂќ of these tiny insects are observed in yards, fields, fencerows and gardens. Outbreaks have been noticed only 3 times in the last 20 years. False chinch bugs are not a common pest in Iowa.

Chinch bugs