Starting with the hot weather in July and continuing through August and into September, chinch bugs can frequently be found in lawns, especially St. Augustine lawns.  Chinch bugs like hot, dry sunny turf and can quickly cause substantial damage in a relatively small amount of time.  Lawns with an infestation contain large patches of yellowish, wilted, diminutive grass.  Because the chinch bugs suck the sap from individual blades, the turf will be left with brown areas that have withered and died.

By pushing a top and bottomless can into the soil, then filling it with water, the presence of the bugs is easily revealed as they will float to the surface in a few short minutes.  Chinch bugs are quick moving and measure from 3/16 to 1/8 inch with black bodies and white wings as adults.  Smaller, juveniles may be orange-pink colored with a white band on their back.