1913 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 47 



May, but a previous brief visit to the infested area was made by Mr. G. E. Sanders 

 of this office in the early part of the year, when the bugs were in their winter 

 quarters, hibernating under leaves in woodlots and under rubbish of all descrip- 

 tions. 



At the time of my visit, in the latter part of May, a large proportion of the 

 bugs we]'e in coitu, but I was then informed that they were noticed pairing at least 

 a week })revious to" this. A few pairs in copula were taken and put in pairs on 

 oat plants growing under glass chimneys to ascertain the earliest date of oviposition, 

 the period of egg laying and the number of eggs usually laid by a single female. 

 The first eggs were deposited May 28th, and these hatched June 18th, the average 

 egg production for the female being 95, the period of oviposition being 18-19 days; 

 but under field conditions the period of oviposition for the whole brood covers a 

 period of six weeks. The weather throughout was cool and moist, which no doubt 

 retarded the hatching of the eggs. 



Fig. 14.— Chinch Bug. 



Life History. The eggs are about .03 in. in length, elongate-oval in shape, 

 rather narrowly rounded at one end," and slightly squared at the other, from the 

 end of which may be seen four small rounded tubercles. The newly deposited egg 

 is whitish and translucent, but soon changes to an amber shade, and finally, as the 

 insect develops within, becomes definitely red. The Chinch Bug is dimorphic, 

 there being both a short and a long-winged form, and both forms are present, the 

 greater proportion, however, being of the long-winged type. Except after the final 

 moult, the immature stages are identical, and, so far as I know, they have never 

 been distinguished. The newly hatched larva is yellowish-red in colour, with a 

 whitish-yellow band on the three larger abdominal joints; from the second to the 

 third day the body becomes of a vermilion color, while the pale band across the 

 middle of the body becomes slightly darker. On the sixth day, the head and thorax 

 change to a dusky tint, the abdomen is still of a vermilion colour, the pale trans- 

 verse band is quite distinct, and two dark lines appear on the prothorax. Very 

 little change except growth takes place until the insects are a month old, when the 

 wing-pads are plainly evident. As growth continues, these enlarge, and the whitish 

 central band becomes more or less obliterated. Shortly after this the final moult 

 takes place. After shedding its skin, the Chinch Bug is of a pale pinkish colour 

 throughout, the wings extending either the wh<?le length of the body, or, in the 

 short-winged type, only one half the length of the body, with pinkish veins. Soon 

 after, two black dots appear on the wing covers, the head and thorax become 

 darker in colour and finally black. The adult insect is an elongate-oval, with 

 broadly rounded ' ends, about .15 in. in length, and its width about 1/4 as much. 



