236 Ageioultueal Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y 



and the fingers are closed upon it, ere one is aware, it slips out at some 

 opening between them and falls among the leaves or into the grass. 

 It is not inclined to take wing except as a last resort. By its long, 

 stout hind legs it is adapted for skipping; and its mode of progression 

 is quite singular. It walks briskly a few steps and then gives a skip, 

 throwing itself two or three inches, and then pauses and looks around, 

 apparently to see if anything has noticed and is following it. It then 

 walks a few steps further and gives another skip and again stops and 

 looks back; being evidently aware that when it is moving it is much 

 more liable to be seen by some enemy than when it is standing still." 

 This account is not an exaggeration. 



In this connection a statement crept into the literature in 1871, 

 which has remained, and in several cases the only preventive method 

 recommended is based upon it. Dr. LeBaron started it by saying : 

 " The insects of the genus Capsus are very active, and instantly 

 take to flight when alarmed, especially in the heat of the day. The 

 only time when they can be captured and destroyed is very early in 

 the morning, when they are chilled by the coolness of the night, and 

 therefore disinclined to fly." After a little experience in trying to 

 capture a few of the insects at different times during the day, we 

 became presumptuous enough to doubt this statement. To test it, a 

 cold rainy morning (June 30) was selected when the bugs would be 

 torpid, if at any time. We were in the field just as day was break- 

 ing, before 5 a. m., and in spite of the fact that the books said the 

 bugs should be torpid at this time, they were never livelier ! It 

 required just as much dexterity to catch one at that time in the morn- 

 ing as it had the preceding day at about noon. Some species of the 

 Capsidae may be torpid early in the morning, but the Four-lined Leaf- 

 bug is certainly an exception on some mornings. 



The adults show a decided tendency to wander about onto dif- 

 ferent plants in the neighborhood of the one on which they feed as 

 nymphs. Early in June nearly every Canada thistle and burdock 



Fig. 9.— Abdomen of the female, ahowing the ovipositor; a, ovipositor hidden in groove; c 



ovipositor exerted; 6, blades of ovipositor. 



growing in proximity to the currant bushes in the horticultural garden 

 were fairly alive with the adults feeding. Some adults escaped from 



