Blissus leucopterus facts for kids

The Blissus leucopterus, often called the chinch bug, is a tiny insect found in North America. It belongs to a group of insects known as "true bugs." This species is the most common type of chinch bug you might find. There's also a close relative called the southern chinch bug.

The name "chinch bug" comes from the Spanish word chinche. This word actually refers to bed bugs. Even though chinch bugs are not related to bed bugs, they got their name because they make a similar smell when they are crushed.

These small bugs often gather in sunny, open areas of grass. Because they are so tiny, you might not notice them easily. However, they can become a problem because they are considered pests. They feed on the stems of grass and important grain crops.

How to Spot a Chinch Bug

A fully grown chinch bug is about 4 mm long. That's less than half an inch! Adult chinch bugs can be dark red or brown. They have white wings and red legs.

Young chinch bugs, called nymphs, are usually bright red. They are about half the size of an adult. A special feature to look for on a nymph is a white band on its belly. This band will be covered by wings as the bug grows. The band also changes color to black as the nymph develops into an adult.

Where Do Chinch Bugs Live?

Chinch bugs are originally from the Americas. You can find them all over the United States. They also live in southern Canada, Mexico, and Central America.

What Do Chinch Bugs Eat?

Chinch bugs love to eat plants from the grass family. This includes both wild grasses and important crops like wheat, rye, barley, oats, and corn. They feed by sucking the sap, which is like the plant's juice, right out of the growing stems.

When a plant starts to ripen or dry out, the chinch bugs move to other fresh, growing plants to find more food.

The Life Story of a Chinch Bug

A chinch bug usually lives for less than one year. Female chinch bugs lay eggs from spring to summer. These eggs hatch and grow into adults. There are usually two groups, or "generations," of chinch bugs born each year.

In the fall, the adult chinch bugs from the first generation die. The adults from the second generation look for places to spend the winter. They can hide in many spots, like under tree bark, in tall grass, or even inside field mice nests! They also hide in hedges, along roadsides, or in bushy fence rows.

Once spring arrives and it gets warmer, these overwintering adults come out. They return to crop fields to feed and lay their own eggs before they die.

How Weather Affects Chinch Bugs

Chinch bugs prefer hot, dry, and sunny weather. Wet, warm, and humid conditions are actually bad for them! These conditions help a special fungus grow. This fungus is deadly to chinch bugs and can kill many of them.

Heavy rain can also reduce their numbers. Young chinch bugs, called nymphs, can get trapped in the wet soil when it rains hard. This can cause them to die.

Natural Enemies

Chinch bugs also have natural enemies that help control their population. One of these is the big-eye bug, called Geocoris bullatis. Another is a tiny wasp called Eumicrosoma beneficum. These predators either eat the chinch bugs or lay their eggs inside them, which kills the chinch bug.

Chinch Bug Timeline

• December – March: Chinch bugs are in hibernation, sleeping through the cold winter.
• March – April: When daytime temperatures stay above 20 °C (about 68 °F) for a few hours, the bugs wake up. They come out of hibernation and start to mate.
• April – May: The adult chinch bugs fly to fields where small grains, like wheat, are growing. They start sucking sap from these plants. Females continue to mate and begin laying eggs. They lay their eggs on the lower leaves or roots of the plants. A female can lay about 200 eggs over 30 days!
• June: The eggs hatch into nymphs. These nymphs grow for about 30 days until they become adults. Young nymphs are wingless and reddish. They get darker with each molt (when they shed their skin) until they have full wings as adults. Nymphs also feed on the same growing plants. When these plants start to ripen, the bugs look for other fresh crops, like corn, to feed on.
• July - October: The chinch bugs feed and lay a second generation of eggs on the new growing plants. The second generation of bugs grows into full adults. They continue to feed on the crops.
• November: The chinch bugs leave the crops and search for safe places to spend the winter.

Chinch Bugs and People

Chinch bugs are native to the United States, especially common in the Midwest. They have had a big impact on farming. Originally, they fed on wild prairie grasses. But when people settled the Midwest in the 1800s and planted crops like wheat, corn, and sorghum, chinch bugs quickly adapted. These new crops became their new homes and food sources.

Throughout the 1900s, chinch bugs were a major problem for farmers. They could quickly destroy entire fields of corn or wheat. To solve this, many farmers started planting soybeans instead. Soybeans are not a food source for chinch bugs. This change in crops led to a huge drop in the chinch bug population in those areas.

Today, chinch bugs are mostly known as common lawn pests. People often treat them with special sprays called pesticides. Farmers also use grass types that are resistant to chinch bugs to help protect their crops.