CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF COMMON INSECTS l6l 



Life-history. — It hibernates as an adult under rubbish, in out- 

 buildings, etc. In spring the adult injures the young squash plants by 

 sap punctures, and at that time lays eggs; nymphs reach maturity in 

 July-August. Two broods in a season in the South. 



Control. — Spray with kerosene emulsion; trap the adults under 

 bits of board; destroy the egg-masses; destroy the vines in fall; plant 

 early squash plants among the cucumbers and melons as traps. 



Lyg^id^ (Chinch Bugs, etc.) 



Chinch Bug {Blissus leucopterus Say). — (Consult Bull. 95, 111. Agr. 

 Exp. Stn.; Bulls. 15, 69; Circ. 113; Farmers' Bull. 132, Div. Ent., 

 U. S. Dept. Agr.) A serious native Ameri- 

 can pest, especially in the Central States to 

 cereals and corn crops and to timothy 

 meadows; widely distributed in the Eastern 

 half of the Continent from the West Indies 

 to Canada. 



Adult. — A black bug, 3^^ inch long; wings 

 white and marked by a small black triangle 

 on their outer margins; bases of the antennae 

 and the legs are red. Short winged forms 

 in the East and along the sea coast and 

 Great Lakes. April-May, and August (Figs. 

 104 and 105). 



Eggs. — Cylindrical, %oo inch long;squarer 

 at one end; whitish at first, becoming amber-ed. 

 in May, but in 10 days in August. 



Nymphs. — Four moults, the successive instars showing changes in 

 size and markings, the first three often called the red stages. In the 

 first stage it is pale red throughout with a yellow band across the base of 

 abdomen; in the second stage the head and prothorax become darker, 

 the abdomen vermilion with pale yellow band; in the third stage the 

 color is decidedly darker throughout, and in the fourth the red has 

 disappeared, general color varying from black in front to dusky grey 

 behind (Fig. 106). 



Life-history. — The bugs hibernate under rubbish, in thickets and in 

 clumps of grass. In April and May females lay their eggs on the roots 



Fig. 104. — Chinch bug: 

 adult. {From Webster.) 



Hatch in 2-3 weeks 



