78 THE REPORT OF THE [ No. 19 



The piercers penetrate the tissues of the leaf or stem, and by means of muscles at 

 the base of the beak the fluids are drawn up. While the insect is puncturing the tissues 

 with the piercers it drops in a little poison which causes the cells close by to wilt and die. 

 Some observers consider the amount of damage done by the poison to be greater than that 

 produced by the loss of sap. / 



Odour — The cause of the very disagreeable odour of squash bugs is a fluid which 

 is secreted by two glands through two openings on the under surface of the body, situated 

 olose to the second pair of legs on the last segment of the thorax. (Fig. 39, a.) 



Wings. — The wings of the squash bug are characteristic of the large order of 

 insects to which it belongs, — the Hbmiptera, that is, the basal half of each of the 

 outer pair of wings is thickened, while the outer 

 half remains thin, membranous, and veiny. (Fig 41) 

 The under pair of wings are thin and membran- 

 ous, and are folded under the larger outer pair. 



Eggs. — During July and even later the eggs 

 are laid on the under side of the leaves in groups 

 varying from 4 or 5 to 30 or 50. They are dull- 

 red in colour, smooth and shining, about one 

 twenty-fifth of an inch in length, and slightly flat- 

 tened on two sides. 



Nymphs. — The young bugs escape from the 

 eggs in about ten days, and proceed directly to 

 abstract nourishing fluids from the stems. The 

 nymphs may be found in all stages of development 

 under wilted leaves during August and Septem- ^^^^ 



ber. (Fig. 37). It will be observed that the ■r,^„ a-, rjy, . • r*u o i tj 



■ ^ ° , ' , . ^. . ^1 • 1 .r Fig. 41.— The outer Wing of the Squash Bug 



nymphs are broader m proportion to their length showing the thickened inner half (a) and the 

 than the adults are, and their head and first seg- membranous outer half (b). (Original ) 

 ment of the thorax are small. As the nymphs J^^.^.tast^segmeat^^^^^^^^^ 

 develop by moulting the Vings become longer. male (2). 



Remedies. — From the fact that the squash bug does not eat its food, it may be in- 

 ferred that Paris Green placed on the stems or leaves is of no use in killing the pest. 

 Many substances have been tried, but most have been found unsatisfactory. Kerosene 

 emulsion diluted with 9 parts of water and sprayed upon the vines has given fairly good 

 results, but perhaps the beat plan is to clean up the squash patches thoroughly in the 

 fall ; to place pieces of boards and chips during the summer among the vines to decoy 

 the bugs, when they may be readily killed ; and to pick the old bugs and eggs in early 

 summer and destroy them. 



Topics For Observation. 



1. The month, and day of the month when the young squash bugs are first observed. 



2. The location of the eggs on the leaf, — their number, colour and shape. 



3. The hatching of the eggs, — the duration of the egg state, the way the young bugs 

 escape from the eggs. 



4. The moulting of the nymphs, — the number of moults, the changes with each suc- 

 cessive moult, and the duration of each stage. 



5. The offensive odour, — the position of the secreting glands, the use of the fluid to 

 the insect. 



6. The best methods of controlling the insect in melon patches. 



7. Males and females, — distinction and relative numbers. (Fig. 41, 1, 2). 



8. The development of the wing. 



9. Parasites. 



10. Other insect enemies of the melon patch. 



11. Mode of feeding, — the way the fluids are drawn up. 



