INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN, 



295 



It was carefully computed by Dr. LeBaron, then State Entomologist of 

 Illinois, that the loss in the single year 1871, in only seven states, by the 

 ravages of the chinch bug was $30,000,000. Those seven states were 

 Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Indiana. In the year 

 1874 the chinch bug was again unusually destructive, and in Missouri 

 alone, Dr. C. V. Riley, then State Entomologist of Missouri, computed 

 the loss in this one State by the ravages of this one insect during that 

 single year at $19,000,000, and stated that for the seven states I have 

 above mentioned the loss for that one year might safely be estimated at 

 $60,000,000. The loss in the United States for that one year has 

 been estimated at upwards of $100,000,000. While these estimates are 

 undoubtedly correct, they are enormous, and cover the ravages of but 

 this single insect during one single season. If we take into account the 

 aggregate losses from year to year, one could hardly realize that insects 

 could cause so much damages. 



THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE CHINCH BUG. 



The chinch bug is so well known to most farmers of Missouri that 

 it hardly seems necessary to give any detailed description of it, although 



Fig. 51. — Chinch Bug, Blissus leucopterus, showing different stages in its develop- 

 ment : a, b, eggs ; c, newly hatched bug ; d, its tarsus ; e, bug after first molt ; f, sanrie 

 after second molt; fir, same after third molt; at the left an adult which is the result 

 of the fourth molt, much more magnified ; h, enlarged leg of adult bug ; t, proboscis or 

 beak enlarged ; j, tarsus of same still more enlarged. The lines at the sides of each 

 bug represent its natural size. (From Webster and Riley, U. S. Dept. Agric.) 



the false chinch bug is very often mistaken for it. A short description 

 of the different stages of the insect, however, may not be out of place, 

 since the insects differ in their coloring to such an extent between the 

 young and adult stages. 



The eggs of the chinch bug are very small and are deposited in 

 masses, each female depositing upwards of five hundred eggs. The 

 eggs, however, are not all deposited in one mass, but may be scattered 

 in several masses ; and are placed, as a rule, just under the surface of 

 the ground near or upon the roots or the base of the stems of the grass 



