Lawn parameters influencing abundance and distribution of the hairy chinchbug (Hemiptera : Lygaeidae)

Management of lawns that promotes conditions detrimental to the development of insect pests may represent a valuable environmentally benign turfgrass management strategy. In the cool-humid region of Quebec, Canada, we investi gated 45 lawns infested with hairy chinch bug, Blissus leucopterus hirtus M ontandon. to identify lawn parameters related to its distribution and abund ance. Kentucky bluegrass, creeping bentgrass, and perennial ryegrass, respe ctively, accounted for 55.8, 19.6, and 9.3% of the grass species. Chinch bu g population density was associated positively with abundance of perennial ryegrass, whereas it was marginally negatively related with the abundance o f creeping bentgrass. An index of the severity of chinch bug infestation wa s obtained for each lawn by combining estimates of number of infested patch es per lawn, average size of the patches, and chinch bug number per patch. The index was associated positively with abundance of Kentucky bluegrass an d perennial ryegrass. There was evidence that abundance of creeping bentgra ss was associated negatively with the number of infested patches per lawn, area of the patches, and number of chinch bugs within those patches. The nu mber of infested patches increased, whereas patch area and chinch bug numbe r per patch tended to decrease, when broad-leaf weeds were more abundant on a lawn. No significant relationship was found between thatch thickness and patterns of chinch bug abundance and distribution. These results suggest t hat management of lawns to respectively increase and decrease abundance of creeping bentgrass and perennial ryegrass could facilitate control of hairy chinch tug populations in cool-humid regions.