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NYSIUS ERICAE, THE FALvSE CHINCH BUG 



By F. B. MiLUKEN, 



Scientific Assistant, Truck Crop Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology, 



United States Department of Agriculture 



INTRODUCTION 



The false chinch bug, Nysius ericae Schilling {angustatus Uhler), has 

 been recognized for many years as a serious pest, especially in the semi- 

 arid regions of the United States, where it causes great damage to sugar 

 beets and cruciferous garden crops, settling upon them suddenly in enor- 

 mous numbers and sucking so much sap from them that the plants wilt 

 beyond recovery in one or two days. 



When the writer v/as first stationed at Garden City, Kansas, in March, 

 1 91 3, he could get no information regarding the life history and habits 

 of the insect on which to base control measures. Work was therefore 

 begun to determine these points, and the following account is prepared 

 from data collected during that and the three following years. ^ The 

 closest field study of the insect was made during 191 3 and 1914, and the 

 rearing work was done during 1914 and 191 6. 



DESCRIPTION 



THE ADULT 



The female is about 4 mm. long by 1.5 mm. wide. The greatest width is through 

 the posterior edge of the prothorax and base of the wings. From this point the body 

 tapers rapidly forward with a slight curve. The eyes project prominently on the sides 

 at the posterior margin of the head, and the antennae arise between the ejesandthe 

 base of the beak. The abdomen is elongate, its sides almost parallel and its apex 

 rounded. It is entirely covered by clear membranous wings which project a little 

 at the anal extremity. The ovipositor arises on the ventral surface of the tip of the 

 abdomen, and is carried folded in a groove below the posterior abdominal segiments^ 

 the basal portion extending forward and the distal backward just beneath. 



The males are perceptibly smaller than the females, or about half the length and half 

 the width of a grain of wheat. Their form is similar to that of the female, excepting 

 the tip of the abdomen, which is more pointed and without the groove on the venter. 



The newly matured adult is dull whitish, but in a short time this changes to dirty 

 gray with dark or black spots. Old adults (PI. 60) are nearly black, except the ventral 

 portions of the posterior abdominal segments of the female, v.hich are gray or light 

 brov/n. The wings remain transparent. The antennae are tmiform brownish, the 

 legs and tarsi light brown with black spots, and the claws black. 



1 During the simuners of 1914, 1915, and 1916 the writer was assisted by Mr. F. M. Wadley. Besides 

 rendering assistance on the entire project, he alone collected the data for the topics, "Rate of oviposition 

 at various hours of the day " and ' ' Seasonal variation in oviposition . ' ' 



Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. XIII, No. 11 



Washington, D. C. June 10, 1918 



nu (571) KeyNo. K-66 



