§5884. Study of biology and behavior of chinch bugs, including factors leading to crop loss and development of improved management practices
The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a research and education program to study the biology and behavior of chinch bugs. The purpose of this study shall be-
(1) to characterize the relationship between environmental and climatic factors and chinch bug outbreaks in an attempt to predict when these outbreaks occur;
(2) to determine chinch bug dispersal habits, overwintering habitat preferences, and overwintering survival in native and introduced grasses;
(3) to describe the population dynamics of chinch bugs in small grain and noncrop grass hosts in the spring and assess yield losses in small grain crop hosts; and
(4) to investigate various aspects of chinch bug behavior (including host habitat preferences, oviposition, and pheromones) that may result in the development of novel management strategies.
(Pub. L. 101 624, title XVI, §1653, Nov. 28, 1990,