| a small lygaeid bug, Blissus leucopterus, that feeds on corn, wheat, and other grains. |
bed·bug also bed bug  (běd'bŭg')  n. A wingless odorous insect (Cimex lectularius) with a flat reddish body that infests dwellings and bedding and feeds on human blood. Also called regionally chinch, chinch bug. |
| chinch bug also cinch bug n. Chiefly Southern & Midland U.S.
|
chinch bug
(Blissus leucopterus), important grain and corn pest belonging to the insect family Lygaeidae (order Heteroptera). Though a native of tropical America, the chinch bug has extended its range to include much of North America. It is a small bug, not more than 5 mm (0.2 inch) long. The adult is black with red legs; the white forewings have a black spot near the outer edge. In spring, adults that hibernated during the winter migrate from clumps of weeds to a wheat or other grain field. Each female then deposits about 300 to 500 cylindrical, yellow eggs on the roots, lower leaves, and stems of the grain. Reddish nymphs with a light band across the back emerge from the eggs after one or two weeks and immediately begin to suck the plant's sap. They grow rapidly, becoming dark and molting five times in about 40 days. When the wheat becomes too hard to suck or when harvest begins, large numbers of chinch bugs migrate-by crawling or flying, depending on the stage of development-to another grain field in search of food and a place to deposit eggs for a second generation. In autumn the second-generation adults fly to clumps of grass or some other sheltered place and hibernate during the winter.
Learn more about chinch bug with a free trial on Britannica.com.