–by Dr. Jeff Whitworth and Dr. Holly Schwarting
Chinch bug populations continue to cause concern in north central and south central Kansas. Occasionally, in past years when rainfall was plentiful and humidity high, chinch bugs were controlled by an entomophagous fungus. However, this always occurred during the ‘walking migration’, when the nymphs were aggregating in wheat and started moving out as the wheat senesced, to feed on nearby seedling sorghum and/or corn if adjacent to wheat. The chinch bugs are now more dispersed around sorghum fields and therefore the fungus may infect a few bugs but will probably not help control these populations which are increasing and therefore need to be monitored. For more information on chinch bug biology in Kansas, please visit: http://www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/MF3107.pdf