Is it Drought Damage? Or is it Chinch Bugs?

There’s an Important Difference Between the Two!

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Professional Chinch Bug Control Services for a Lush, Green Lawn

Easy to Mistake

Chinch bug damage can look exactly like drought damage (dry, brown/yellow patches). If chinch bugs are at work, watering won’t fix the issue.

Hard to Detect

Because the damage they cause can be easily mistaken for other issues, chinch bugs can be hard to identify and diagnose.

Expensive Lawn Damage

Homeowners are left with costly property damage before they’ve even realized the real problem.

Persistent & Resistant

Not only are these pests hard to kill, but they can also adapt to pesticides. Strategic chinch bug control measures are crucial. Weed Man can help!

Fast Reproduction

One couple can lay around 250 eggs in early summer, and the nymphs begin feeding on your grass immediately.

Toxic for Your Lawn

These tiny pests will drain the sap from your grass and leave a dangerous toxin in its place.

What are Chinch Bugs?

Chinch bugs may be tiny, but the damage they cause to a lawn can be massive. Left unchecked, these pests can quickly turn a lush, green yard into a patchy, brown eyesore. Fortunately, with the right knowledge and action, chinch bugs can be identified early and controlled effectively.

How Do I Know If I Have Chinch Bugs in My Lawn?

Chinch bugs are small insects about a quarter of an inch long as adults. They are black with white wings folded neatly across their backs, forming a distinctive hourglass pattern. Young chinch bugs (nymphs) are even smaller, starting out as bright orange or red with a white stripe across their backs before turning darker as they mature.

Because of their size, chinch bugs can be difficult to spot directly in your lawn. A good trick is to part the grass near damaged areas and look closely at the soil surface. You may see the pests crawling quickly when disturbed.

Quick identification tip:

  1. Place the bottom of a coffee can (with both ends removed) into the soil in a suspicious area
  2. Fill it with water
  3. Wait a few minutes
  4. If chinch bugs are present, they’ll float to the top

Because they can be found just about anywhere, chinch bug damage is frequently mistaken for drought stress or other common lawn problems.

Signs of Chinch Bug Damage

Chinch bugs damage grass by sucking out plant juices and injecting toxins that block water movement within the blades. This creates the appearance of drought stress, even when the lawn is well-watered.

Common signs of chinch bug damage include:

  • Patches of yellowing grass that quickly turn brown and dry.
  • Damage that starts in sunny, dry areas of the lawn (especially along sidewalks, driveways, sun-drenched hillsides, or other hot surfaces).
  • Patches that grow and worsen in hot, dry weather.
  • Brown spots that don’t respond to normal watering.

Since chinch bug damage looks very similar to drought stress, many homeowners mistake one for the other, delaying the proper treatment.

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How Do I Kill the Chinch Bugs in My Lawn?

The good news is that you can rid your lawn of these aggressive pests. The bad news is that over-the-counter sprays are not going to be much help.

Proper chinch bug control is more complex than just spray-and-kill. In fact, chinch bugs can actually adapt to certain herbicides and develop an immunity.

This is why it’s best left to the professionals. Weed Man’s trained lawn care professionals can apply targeted control products that eliminate chinch bugs quickly and effectively.

How to Get Rid of Chinch Bugs For Good

The best chinch bug control strategies involve properly diagnosing the problem as soon as possible, then attacking the issues with a combination of products and procedures.

If you want to make sure you rid your lawn of chinch bugs, completely and permanently, you need to keep up beneficial cultural practices such as:

  • Watering
  • Mowing
  • Fertilizing
  • Aeration

Find your local Weed Man professional to discuss all options before it’s too late.



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Weed Man Greenville, SC

Weed Man deserves 10 stars! I’ve been a customer for 3 years and every service visit has been perfect! As far as pest control goes, Creatures no longer find their way into my home, nor do they hang around outside! Just started the lawn program but the weeds were dead within a couple hours of treatment! I’m a very happy customer! Great caring customer service and service guys! You can’t go wrong with Weed Man!

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Inez Jones

2025/07/03

Weed Man Austin, TX

I've been with Weed Man for 2 years or more and man they have been very helpful. Being a working mom and having 50 million things to do and one of them is not having to worry about my lawn because I know Weed Man will take care of it. I was always trying to find new ingredients to help with the weeds in my lawn and how time consuming it was, now I just wait for Weed Man to put me on their schedule. The price to me is reasonable for the service they provide.

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Cristina Birdwell

2025/10/02

Weed Man Billings, MT

The Weed Man has successfully eradicated an enormous number of weeds in my backyard with their initial treatment. I have found the Weed Man to be exceptionally responsive to any requests that I have made. The service is competent and very friendly. I highly recommend this company! Post Season follow-up: Throughout the season (It is now mid-September), the Weed Man technician, Damien, provided excellent service and was immediately responsive to all of my requests. If there were a couple of instances of a weed or two reappearing, he gladly stopped by to treat it. It has been a pleasure using Weed Man, and I absolutely recommend its services to anyone with a weed issue. I will continue to use Weed Man on an annual basis.

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Robert Goodman

2025/09/03

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Weed Control

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Aeration

Aeration promotes good root health by removing small cores of soil to reduce your lawn’s thatch layer, allowing water, air, and nutrients to reach the areas that need it most.

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Bed Control

Manage unwanted weeds and grasses popping up in the landscaped areas of your property, including gardens, shrub beds, and mulched areas.

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Crabgrass Control

Manage troublesome, difficult-to-identify crabgrass—before it has a chance to germinate and after it pops up in your lawn—with top-of-the-line products, safely applied in the hands of our trained professionals.

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Crack and Crevice Control

Manage unwanted weeds and grasses popping up in areas of your property, such as your driveway, patio, sidewalk, or walkway.

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Disease Control

Our trained and certified technicians will diagnose the presence of lawn diseases and implement a custom treatment plan to control disease-related damage in your lawn.

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Grub Control

Defend your lawn from grub damage. Our trained and certified technicians will identify the infestation and recommend the best solution for your lawn.

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Soil pH Control

Our trained and certified technicians will assess and restore the soil to an acceptable pH balance, allowing your lawn to properly absorb all the water and nutrients it needs.

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Defend your lawn from insect damage. Our trained and certified technicians will identify, prevent, and control an infestation of turf-damaging insects.

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Reclaim your outdoor space from annoying, biting mosquitoes. Get custom, targeted control and regular service from a trained professional, effectively reducing the mosquito population in your yard.

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Overseeding strengthens your lawn and replenishes thin or bare areas with high quality grass seed.

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