176 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. 



yellow, the thighs blackish at base, and with two black rings 

 near the tip, and the extremities of the feet are blackish. The 

 females are most often of a pale olive-green, or of a dirty 

 greenish yellow color; the thorax spotted and more or less 

 distinctly striped with black, and the thick part of the wing- 

 covers also variegated with dusky or brownish lines and clouds. 

 In both sexes, however, the yellow V, or the three spots on the 

 thorax, and the large yellow spot tipped with black on the 

 wing-covers, are conspicuous characters, which readily afford 

 the means of identifying the species. I have taken this in- 

 sect in the spring, as early as the twentieth of April, and in 

 the autumn, as late as the middle of October; from which I 

 infer that it passes the winter in the perfect state in some 

 place of security. It is most abundant during the months of 

 June and July. Specimens have been sent to me from Maine, 

 New York, North Carolina, and Alabama, and Mr. Say records 

 its occurrence in Pennsylvania, Indiana, the North- West Ter- 

 ritory, and Missouri. It seems, therefore, to be very generally 

 diffused throughout the Union. 



The history of this species is yet imperfect. We know not 

 where and when the eggs are laid; the young have not been 

 observed; and the insects, during the early periods of their 

 existence, have escaped notice, and are only known to us after 

 they have completed their final transformations. It is possible 

 that further information upon the history of these insects may 

 afford some aid in devising proper remedies against their ra- 

 vages. Upon a limited scale, as on plants growing in our 

 gardens, may be tried the effect of sprinkling them with alka- 

 line solutions, such as strong soapsuds, or potash-water, or 

 with decoctions of tobacco and of walnut leaves, or of dust- 

 ing the plants with air-slacked lime or sulphur. But in field 

 husbandry such applications would be impracticable. I am 

 inclined to believe that nothing will prove so effectual as 

 thorough irrigation, or copious and frequent showers of rain, 

 which will bring forward the plants with such rapidity, that 

 they will soon become so strong and vigorous as to withstand 

 the attacks of these little bugs. The great increase of these 

 and other noxious insects may fairly be attributed to the 



