CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY INSECTS 



349 



passes through five stages. The full- 

 grown nymph is of a bright orango 

 yellow color and about J inch in length. 

 The black wing-pads have a broad yel- 

 lowish-green stripe near the outer mar- 

 gin and extend about halfway to the 

 tip of the abdomen. At the fifth molt 

 the winged adult appears, about the 

 middle of June in New York, and is 

 about J inch in length; the general 

 color of the body is bright orange- 

 yellow with four black stripes on the 

 thorax and wing-covers (Fig. 308) ; the 

 legs and the areas between the black 

 stripes are dark apple-green, changing 

 to lemon-yellow after death. 



The adults are provided with a beak, 

 and feed in the same manner as do the 



nymphs. They are more voracious, however, and do more 



damage. They are shy, very active when 



~ ^M|| alarmed and very difficult to capture. Egg- 



:HH laying begins about a week after the adults 



■j I^H appear and is completed early in July. The 



r^^HH female is provided with a thin, blade-like 



i ^i^^SH obliquely pointed ovipositor by means of 



I ^^^ * ' « which she cuts a slit about J inch long in 



{ "^^. ^M the bark of the soft, tender growth in 



i * |,!m which she deposits 6 or 8 light yeUow 



I / ikms eggs. Each egg is yV inch in length, 



f IMH smooth, slightly curved, and has the upper 



, third capped by a white, finely striated 



Fig. 310. — Currant . ^1^. ^;^, „t-.i xi_ ^u c 



stem split to show eggs portion (Fig. 310). With the growth of 

 and the larva of a para- ^j^g surrouiiding tissue the cggs are usually 



site feeding on them „ ■,.„.■,. i x 4.u^4- 



(x6). forced out of the stem somewhat, so that 



Fig. 309. — Currant stem 

 showing white egg-clusters 

 of the four-lined leaf- bug. 



