#false chinch bugs

[andnowanowl]

That Time the Neighborhood Got Swarmed by False Chinch Bugs

Back in June of 2020, the neighborhood where I lived in El Paso got swarmed by billions of false chinch bugs. Each bug is about the size of a grain of rice.

I noticed only a few at first. I thought it slightly odd that there were so many (haha, if I only knew) of these true bugs on the ground. I figured that there had been a hatching of them and moved on with my day. The next day, bam! I went outside and there were millions upon millions of them everywhere. I could hear them moving, there were so many. It sounded like sand constantly moving. I ducked back inside and saw, to my dismay, they were infiltrating the house. Literally crawling through any crack they could find in their search of plants to suck the moisture from. They were between the panes of the windows.

Since this was 2020, I rolled my eyes and said, "Great, it's another one of the plagues of Egypt." I had a hell of a time trying to keep these things out - my jelly-brained bastard of an ex was not helpful at all. He just cringed at the prospect of these things coming into the house. We could not kill them en masse because there were billions of these things swarming the neighborhood, killing the plants. So I looked up some ways to keep them out of the house, which included leaving out vinegar and plugging up holes. It was...marginally successful.

They crawled over us as we slept (much to my OCD ex's eternal dismay). I wouldn't have minded that too much, since I grew up in the countryside and bugs crawling on you happens sometimes. But they bit. Google claims they do not and it is a liar. Their bites did not feel like mosquito bites (more like horse fly bites) and they itched a little. After two days, I finally ID'd them and discovered that they could stay for weeks. Sometimes six. My ex's mother straight-up booked a motel rather than sleep in the house.

Two sleep-deprived weeks later, they finally, finally started to leave. Their dead carcasses lay in piles between the panes of the windows of the house. Some kind of pest control was supposed to have come out to spray them a week prior, but the swarm was of such a magnitude (probably multiple streets) that I'm not sure they did out of fear of poisoning people. I had spent several days fighting these things off my mother-in-law's houseplant and it lost a single leaf from the ordeal. After the bugs left after about another week, I went out to the backyard and every plant, including the hardy native ones that can survive the June heat, was shriveled up and bone dry.

#2020 #true bugs #swarm #false chinch bugs

[joshthebugguy]

Mastering False Chinch Bug Control: Effective Strategies and Solutions

Dive into the world of false chinch bug control with our comprehensive guide. From identifying these pesky pests to implementing proven control methods, discover everything you need to know to safeguard your garden or crops. Explore the latest techniques, eco-friendly solutions, and expert tips to keep false chinch bugs at bay and protect your plants from their destructive habits.

#false chinch bug control #chinch bug control

[textless]

#insect #bug #false chinch bug #arizona #macro #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #texture #dry #flower #husk #blue #of course this was in july

[canadianpestsolutions]

False chinch bugs invade the area - Willcox Range News https://t.co/3p0QgpcGVx

False chinch bugs invade the area - Willcox Range News https://t.co/3p0QgpcGVx

— Canadian Pest Solutions (@PestCanadian) May 26, 2019

from Twitter https://twitter.com/PestCanadian May 25, 2019 at 09:20PM http://twitter.com/PestCanadian/status/1132546938283450368

#IFTTT #Twitter #PestCanadian

[tarlokkumarphotography]

Tiny insect "Nysius Raphanus (False Chinch Bug)" on a wall. More Information: Nysius raphanus (also known as the false chinch bug) is a small (no more than 1⁄8 inch) insect in the order Hemiptera and family Lygaeidae. They are grey to brown in color, with largely transparent wings, and can release an offensive odor similar to stinkbugs. They have no larval stage, instead going through several nymph stages with the nymphs resembling adults but having no wings. In high numbers false chinch bugs can cause significant plant damage. #nysius #nysiusraphanus #falsechinchbug #stinkbug #stinkbugs #bug #bugs #insect #insects #insectspecies #insectworld #insectphotography #insectagram #insectsofinstagram #insectsofindia #insectslife #insectsinindia #insectlovers #insectguru #insects_macro #macro #macrophotography #mobilemacro #mobilephotographyindia #mobilephotography #mobilephotographer (at Punjab, India) https://www.instagram.com/p/CP4poLQgEU5/?utm_medium=tumblr

#nysius #nysiusraphanus #falsechinchbug #stinkbug #stinkbugs #bug #bugs #insect #insects #insectspecies #insectworld #insectphotography #insectagram #insectsofinstagram #insectsofindia #insectslife #insectsinindia #insectlovers #insectguru #insects_macro #macro #macrophotography #mobilemacro #mobilephotographyindia #mobilephotography #mobilephotographer

[textless]

False chinch bugs.  (I’m still not a fan!)  Cochise County, Arizona, May 2020.

#insect #bug #false chinch bug #jumping spider #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #wall #finger #thumb #mustard #seed head #leaf #arizona #hunting #macro #at least we averted the full chinch invasion #so far

[textless]

#insect #bug #false chinch bug #blue #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #blacklight #in the house #night #arizona

[textless]

False Chinch Bugs: Not a Fan

In late June I started noticing huge numbers of small black bugs on plants in the yard.  They were mostly on dry plants, and didn’t seem to be doing any harm, so I was only mildly interested but I took a few pictures.

A few days later, I saw that they were congregating on exterior walls of the house.  Still, I wasn’t especially interested.  (What, me worry?) 

Around the fourth of July, they started coming into the house.

I generally like insects unless they are biting me or contaminating my food, but these were different.  Our house is pretty weather tight, but these are small enough to fit in the tiny openings around windows, doors, and screens.  They came inside and swarmed the insides of the windows, and crawled all over every surface.

They didn’t bite or do any actual harm, but they were everywhere.  They especially liked sheets, blankets, and pillows.  And walking on my face, any time I tried to sleep. 

So, alas, chinch war.

From everything I read, false chinch bug invasions don’t usually last more than three or four days.  Lucky us!  These bugs shifted to different areas around the house, but kept at it for nine days in early July.

I didn’t take pictures of them in the house because I was grossed out, and they didn’t look nice.  Also, I was too busy sweeping them into piles and then vacuuming them by the thousands, and tens of thousands.

I had never seen or heard of these guys before, but apparently they invade houses after a cool, wet spring.  If we have another of those, I will make sure any weeds near the house are cut very short, and I’ll tape up all the windows and doors... and then I’ll go stay elsewhere for at least a week.  Yech.

#insect #bug #false chinch bug #arizona #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #big eyed bug #silver leaf nightshade #macro #not a fan

[textless]

So, let’s talk about moths.

You may know that I like insects more than most people.  I mean that in both senses: I like insects more than average people do.  I also like insects more than I like most people.  Alas, there are exceptions.

In late April, we noticed a few large, weirdly obnoxious moths in the house.  By obnoxious, I mean these were the kind of moths that wanted to fly right at your face, all the time.  By large, I mean that they were over an inch long and very juicy and sticky if you stepped on one by accident.

They were miller moths, the adult form of the army cutworm.  Look them up; they are famously delightful to have around the house.

By early May, a few moths had turned into a few dozen, and then a few hundred.  At some point I stopped counting.  There were moths in the medicine cabinet, the kitchen drawers, the pillowcases, and the shower.  There were dozens of moths clustered on the dining room walls and ceiling.

It was very unpleasant.

We vacuumed some of the moths, but there were too many.  Specifically, they gummed up the little door that keeps vacuumed items inside the mini-vac, and started marching right out again.  (Startling!)

Inlandwest started looking for ideas about how to trap moths, and found that they really like blacklight.  (Who doesn’t?)  By May 9, we were trapping at least 50 moths each night in a bucket in the dining room, and then releasing them in the morning.  But more moths kept coming, and finally one of my coworkers mentioned that in her family’s orchard, they use a light over a bucket of soapy water to catch night-time pests.

I hope you never need to try this at home, but it works like a grim, watery charm.  We caught at least 100 moths each night for more than a week.

Finally the number of moths began to decline, and we thought it might be time to stop trapping them. 

That turned out to be wise, because our old nemeses, false chinch bugs, love blacklight even more than miller moths do.  They love it so much that they will come from miles around to crawl through one’s window screens and bask in its creepy glow.

Ah, springtime.  So much life!

(On the bright side, all of this was a solid distraction from the state of the world.)

Cochise County, Arizona, April to May 2020.

#insect #moth #miller moth #army cutworm #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #water #blacklight #bucket #in the house #macro #window #screen #vacuum #arizona