TRIBE III. — LEPTOCORINI. 285 



long- as head, 3 and 4 subequal, 2 longest. Scutellum and elytra similarly 

 punctate, the tip of the former very narrow, subacute. Other characters 

 as under generic heading. Length, 11 — 13.5 mm.; width, 3 — 4 mm. 

 (Fig. 62). 



Genoa, Nebr., Jan. 30 (Davis). Gila River, N. M. ; Milpitas, 

 Cal., and Pullman, Wash., April 20 — Aug. 5 (Gerhard). Known 

 as the "box-elder plant bug," and ranges from Pennsylvania 

 and District of Columbia west to British Columbia, Colorado 

 and Utah. Known also from Arizona and California. Not as 

 yet recognized from Indiana, but doubtless occurs, as Osborn 

 and Drake ( 1915, 506) mention it from numerous Ohio locali- 

 ties, it having first appeared in that State in 1913. Much has 

 been written about it in economic literature, and Howard 

 (1898) says: 



"It breeds frequently in enormous numbers upon the box-elder, 

 Acer negundo L., becoming more numerous in the autumn than at other 

 seasons. The bugs congregate in groups upon the trunks of these trees, 

 and migrate in search of hibernating quarters to fences and the sides 

 of houses, frequently entering houses and other buildings and stowing 

 themselves away for the winter in protected places. They suck the 

 juices of the leaves and more tender growth of the box-elder tree, and 

 have been reported as damaging fruit, such as peaches, plums and 

 apples. 



"During the winter the adult insect hibernates in all sorts of 

 sheltered localities. It is especially abundant on fences, in crevices be- 

 tween the stones of stone walls, and in the angles of stone buildings. 

 When spring opens and the buds of the box-elder begin to burst they 

 scatter from their hibernating places and seek their food plant. The 

 eggs are laid normally upon the food plant, in the crevices of the bark, 

 but the instinct of the mother bug is by no means true, since she will 

 oviposit in almost any situation, frequently even laying eggs in her hi- 

 bernating quarters. Few of the young hatching from such eggs will 

 ever reach a suitable tree. The first adults begin to appear after mid- 

 summer and at this time bugs of all sizes begin to congregate in lines 

 up and down the trunks and branches of the trees. They may frequently 

 be seen crowding in a broad line extending from the ground up to the 

 secondary branches, in a company including larvae of all sizes, pupae, 

 and fully matured individuals. When the leaves drop, practically all 

 are full grown and they fly away in search of winter quarters." 



II. Jadera Stal, 1862, 59. 



Elongate-oval species of medium or large size having the 

 head subdepressed, slightly declivent; cheeks convex, longer 

 than tylus; antennae with basal joint shorter than head, 2 

 slightly longer than either 3 or 4, which are subequal; 



