The Four-lined Leaf-Bug. 



239 



The eggs, shown enlarged at c, figure 10, are 1.65 mm. (.065 inch) 

 in length, smooth, cylindrical, slightly curved or flash-shaped, and of a 

 light yellow color with the upper third capped by a white finely 

 straited portion; the lower end is rounded and the upper irregularly 

 flattened. , 



With the growth of the surrounding tissue of the stem, the eggs 

 are usually forced out of the slit somewhat, so that about one half 

 or even more of the white portion of the egg projects from the slit as 

 shown much enlarged in figure 12. Later in the season, especiallj 

 noticeable in the spring, the eggs assume a reddish color doubtless due 

 to the growth of the embryo within. 



The eggs are laid only in the soft tender growth made the same 

 season, and almost invariably in the stem. One or two slits containing 



Fig. 18. — Portion of currant stem showing three white egg clusters, much enlarf<e<l. 



eggs have been found in the petiole of a leaf near its base. Kggs are 

 also rarely found six inches from the tip of the shoot. A majority of 

 them are within two or three inches (Fig. 13). In one instance seventy- 

 five eggs were found within three inches from the tip; and sixty-four 

 have been found in one shoot within one and one-quarter inches from 

 the tip.* 



* The number of eggs laid by a single female has not been ascertained. Dr. 

 LeBaron records finding from- 15 to 24 eggs in the abdomens of females 

 examined. When the egg-laying season was at its heigth, July 7 this year, 

 from 15 to 33 fully formed eggs we found in the females examined . 



