132 THE REPORT OF THE No. 19 



able by tlie public, in late summer, but most of their injuries are done in 

 early summer. 



The Tarnished Plant Bug (Fig. 72), is one of the true bugs, and obtains 

 its food by piercing the tissues with its beak and sucking the juices. The 

 adult insects are about 1-5 of an inch long, and are very variable in color, 

 ranging from a dark brown through light brown to yellowish or yellowish- 

 green. The broad region behind the head (prothorax) is bordered with 

 yellow, and has four or five longitudinal yellowish lines; the triangular 

 area behind the prothorax bears also a yellow Y, and ihe upper wings are 

 marked with dark and light spots. 



The adults winter over under rubbish, and are ready in the early spring 

 to attack the young buds and fruits. Their eggs are deposited on the food 

 plants, and in a few days the young larvae or nymphs appear. All ^^^hruugh 

 the season nymphs and adults may be found feeding together. The nymphs 

 moult four or five times, gradually becoming more like the winged adults. 

 There are probably only two'*broods in Ontario. 



Fig. 72. The Tarnished 

 Plant-bug — much enlarged. 



On account of the fact that Tarnished Plant Bugs have a wide range of 

 food plants, hence are widely distributed, and occur at all times of the season 

 in every stage of development, treatment is difficult. The following remedies 

 have been found somewhat effective and are here recommended : 



1. The use of pyrethrum or insect powder. This should be mixed with 

 four or five times its weight of flour and dusted on such plants as straw- 

 berries, garden flowers, cucumbers, potatoes, &c., in early morning while 

 the insects are torpid and the dew is on the foliage. 



2. The bugs may be readily shaken from infested trees and shrubs in 

 early morning upon a sheet, and destroyed. 



3. The application of a kerosene-emulsion spray or some good tobacco 

 solution in early morning will destroy large numbers of the bugs, and help 

 to keep them in check. 



Root Maggots belonging to different species of insects attack the roots 

 of cabbages, onions, and radishes, and do a great deal of injury. These 

 along with the white grubs and wireworms are the betes noires of truck- 

 gardeners. No satisfactory remedies have as yet been discovered for their 

 control, and great losses are sustained every year through lack of inform- 

 ation and treatment. 



We are, however, specially indebted to Professors M. V. Slingerland 

 and S. A. Forbes for their valuable investigations into the life-histories of 



