I realized yesterday that Chinch Bugs are destroying the St. Augustine grass in my back yard. For the past week or two I was convinced that the grass was dying due to the drought conditions that we are currently experiencing. I upped my watering in hopes of fixing it, but did not see any improvement. I did the coffee can test (stick the can down into the soil and fill with water and the bugs will come to the surface for air) and it turns out that chinch bugs are the culprit.

I immediately went and bought Spectracide Triazicide insect killer to get rid of the problem, and applied this to my yard. My question is... Will this do what I need it to as far as eradicating these insects from my grass? Chinch bugs were listed as an insect that this poison kills on the label, but will this actually be an effective solution, or should I try something else?

TIA

Per Neil Sperry, treat with Merit insecticide.

Chinch Bugs

I'm having a similar problem. Thanks for posting

Yes, it will work. I just used that on my yard and it got rid of them. I did 2 applications about a week apart. Make sure you water it in.
Now my St Augustine is slowly coming back.

i assume it wont affect dogs?

Nope. We have 2 dogs outside. Didn't bother them at all.

If memory serves, Randy Lemmon recommends a liquid insecticide once a week for 3 weeks to break egg cycle. So don't quit after one application.

Ag83 said:

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If memory serves, Randy Lemmon recommends a liquid insecticide once a week for 3 weeks to break egg cycle. So don't quit after one application.

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That sounds more like the treatment for sod webworms.

HumbleAg said:

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Ag83 said:

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If memory serves, Randy Lemmon recommends a liquid insecticide once a week for 3 weeks to break egg cycle. So don't quit after one application.

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That sounds more like the treatment for sod webworms.

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http://randylemmon.com/insectsdiseases/gardenline-chinchbugs.html

Good deal. I'm glad to hear that it will work. I was in a hurry to begin treating it, and that was the first thing I came across that listed them.

Sure is frustrating to have your yard eaten up like that. Hopefully this will at least stop the spread and I can salvage what remains of my good grass.

Thanks to everyone who responded!

Ag83 said:

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HumbleAg said:

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Ag83 said:

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If memory serves, Randy Lemmon recommends a liquid insecticide once a week for 3 weeks to break egg cycle. So don't quit after one application.

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That sounds more like the treatment for sod webworms.

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http://randylemmon.com/insectsdiseases/gardenline-chinchbugs.html

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Got it.

Na Zdrav 87 said:

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Yes, it will work. I just used that on my yard and it got rid of them. I did 2 applications about a week apart. Make sure you water it in.
Now my St Augustine is slowly coming back.

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This. Go ahead and fertilize the grass between treatments to speed up recovery.

Correct. Forgot to mention I did that too.