These eggs hatch into red or red-orange nymphs as small as 1mm long and barely detectable with a hand lens. Within a few days, these nymphs become adults. Adult lifecycles range from 70 days in the south to as short as 8 days in the north. The entire lifecycle, from egg to adult, varies by temperature and region - from as short as six weeks to as long as 17 weeks. And there can be anywhere from seven generations per year in the south to as few as one generation in the north.
Chinch bugs attack turf in a group so their damage is quickly visible.
They eat until all the turf is gone so you must be prepared to battle them quickly. They damage the turfgrass with their piercing, sucking mouth parts. They inject a salivary fluid into the crowns and stems and then they suck out the plants fluids. Their saliva disrupts water conducting vessels in the blade causing it to turn yellow, orange and then brown. The turf blade becomes brittle as if it were burned by heat or chemical.