Oct, 21, 1918 The Meadow Plant Bug, Miris dolabratus 



185 



insects generally, the skin splits along the middle line of the back and 

 the body and legs are gradually withdrawn and the increase in size and 

 resumption of color takes place in a short time. 



Five distinct stages of the nymphs are recognized and this seems to 

 be the general rule for the Hemiptera, being the number noted in a large 

 number of the species which have been reared through the nymphal 

 stages. These will be described in detail in a later paragraph (fig. 2). 



No single individual has been carried from the first instar through to 

 the adult stage, but numbers have been carried from two to four of the 

 instars in confinement and under observation so that it is possible to 

 give a connected series of stages from the smallest found to the adult 



Fig. 2. — Miris dolabralus: Nymphs showing relative size of body and development of wing ijads. A, First 

 instar; B, second instar; C, third instar; D, fourth instar; E, fifth instar. Note also position of dorsal 

 gland orifice between segments 3 and 4. (Original.) 



form. The time occupied in the different stages has run from 5 to 8 

 days, averaging 6 to 7 days, and the total period of development from 

 hatching to adult stage must be about 30 to 35 days. 



The principal changes are in the increase in size and in the growth of 

 the wing pads, which are entirely wanting in the first, appear as faint 

 enlargements of the mesothorax in the second instar, are fairly distinct 

 on both mesothorax and metathorax in the third, extend to the second 

 abdominal segment in the fourth and on to the middle of the fourth 

 segment in the fifth for the female and to the base of the fifth segment 

 for the male. There is considerable irregularity in development, as 

 instars i to 4, and probably 5, with adults were taken on June 23. 



In the fourth and fifth instars the sexes are easily distinguished, males 

 being slightly narrower, the abdomen with more parallel sides, and the 



