SOME INJURIOUS BUGS. 



rather by concealment among rubbish and tangled growths 

 than by active movements. The young forms are so 

 very slender that they can only be detected with great 

 difficulty in the places to which they resort." 



MIRID^E 



These are what have generally been called Capsidas. 

 It is one of the largest families of true bugs and a very 

 bewildering one to the students who would attempt to 

 classify the species. Most of them are leaf-feeders but 

 some are predaceous. The eggs of many, at least, have two 

 filaments at one end, which project from the plant-stems 

 in which they are laid. 



The ground-color of the very common 



Lygus Tarnished Plant-bug (Plate XXV), ranges 



pratensis 



from dull brow r n to yellowish-brown, and 



its markings are also variable. Typically, the head 

 is yellowish with three narrow-reddish stripes and the 

 following markings are yellowish: margin of pronotum, 

 several longitudinal lines on it, a V on the scutellum, the 

 legs, and a spot at the apex of the thickened part of each 

 front wing. This insect is very destructive of a large 

 range of vegetation from strawberries to fruit-trees. 

 Adults hibernate in rubbish and appear in early spring. 

 The punctures, made for the purpose of sucking juices, 

 seem to have a poisonous effect on buds and leaves. Pro- 

 bably the eggs are laid in plant-tissues. 



The Four-lined Leaf -bug (Plate XXV) is 

 Poecilocapsus dark n ( llow after death), with the 

 hneatus J 



head, forepart of the pronotum, and under- 

 side of body, orange-red. There are four, more or less 

 continuous, black, longitudinal lines on the pronotum 

 and front wings. While particularly injurious to currants 

 and the like, it attacks many different plants. "The 

 presence of the pest is indicated by the appearance of the 

 peculiar brown depressed spots on the tender terminal 

 leaves in early summer. As the attack continues, whole 

 leaves turn brown, curl up, become brittle, and are torn 



105 



