Things are dry in Houston. So far this June we have had the least recorded rainfall since measurements were kept. I have been seeing dry lawns in my neighborhood for about 2 weeks. I just checked a dry area in my neighbors lawn and he had a heavy infestation of chinch bugs. We are never quite sure when they will show up but they almost always do. A couple of years ago we had a very cool and rainy June and July and I maybe saw one infestation that year.  If the dry weather continues every St. Augustine lawn in Houston will be a target for these true bugs. They will attack the hottest, driest parts of your yard. If in Summer or early Fall your lawn looks very dry and you water thoroughly and your lawn continues to wither and die....you probably have got chinch bugs.
        Finding them can be an art. I will go to a dry area, part the grass and look for any movement at all. Ants, spiders and chinch bugs will try to quickly crawl and hide. Chinch bugs usually try to crawl under some loose soil. You may have to check several spots to find some. The photo below is from the Texas A&M Horticulture website. You can see the different stages. All of them do damage by piercing the runners with their mouth parts, sucking sap and dehydrating your turf. Chinch bugs can and will destroy your whole lawn if allowed to multiply. Watering well is the best prevention. If you do find yourself with an infestation you have several choices for control. Any product with .02% bifenthrin granules will kill them and prevent reinfestation for about 2 months.  For organic gardeners Organicide is a brand name of a fish and sesame oil that will kill chinch bugs on contact.