Chinch Bug

This bug is very common in St. Augustine grass because St. Augustine is a heavy feeder. Chinch bugs like lawns fed with high nitrogen. Young chinch bugs have an orange/red behind and white stripe at mid section,dark brown head. adults are dark/black and look like they have a white stripe on its back.
(wings folded back) They like sunshine and the hottest spot in the lawn,abhor shade. look for small brown patches next to driveways or sidewalks as these will generate the most heat. I hear TALSTAR works great. Ortho has some great products. Contact your Master Gardener in your area fot the best info.

I thought I had chinch bugs as they were eating up my grass. Looking at photos of chinch bugs, I can see these are not chinch bugs. They look like beetles and they have horizontal black and orange stripes. I have never seen them before this year. Now they are everywhere. I am trying to figure out what they are.

Chinch Bugs are common here in South Florida as they love the commonly-planted St. Augustine turfgrass. The symptoms of damage start out as small brown patches in the St. Augustine lawn which grow larger as the insect continues to feed. The insect cuts the stems of the St. Augustine at soil level, leaving brown leaves above. If not controlled with insecticides, the brown patches grow until they merge into large areas of brown turf grass, ultimately causing the death of the entire lawn area by late summer. Weeds in the turfgrass areas tend to not be affected by the insect.