Big-eyed bugs and chinch bugs
UF/IFAS reports that Geocoris uliginosus was the most numerous predator of the southern chinch bug in a Florida St. Augustinegrass study, and Penn State calls the big-eyed bug the primary predator of the hairy chinch bug. They turn up in the same lawns and look similar, so check the head of anything you count: a broad, blunt head with bulging eyes means predator. Do not expect them to rescue a lawn on their own. UF/IFAS reports that introducing predators as the sole control did not significantly cut chinch bug numbers. Their value is background control, which a blanket broad-spectrum spray wipes out.
Before you act
Small, oval, grey or black bugs with a broad head and large bulging eyes, found in lawns and at the base of garden plants. They hunt mites, small insects and insect eggs, and they are sometimes sprayed by mistake because they look like chinch bugs. How to recognise it, what it is confused with and how to keep it around are on the full Big-eyed bugs profile.
Other controls for chinch bugs
No other reviewed control is listed for this pest yet.