CHAPTER XVlll. 



T 



SUCKING INSECTS. 



HE distinguishing character with these insects is that they suck the 

 juice of plants. They are Uemiptera marked by the presence o£ 



the suctorial proboscis. For such 

 pests we must as a rule use special 

 remedies. 



Sucking insects include practi- 

 cally two large classes with inter- 

 mediates; there are the active Plant 

 Bugs which run about the plants 

 and suck any part that attracts 

 them ; there are also the Scale 

 Insects and other " Plant Para- 

 sites ^^^ which fix themselves down 

 and never move. The former may 

 leave no trace of their work, 

 simply inserting their proboscis 

 and feeding where they will ; the 



Fig. 277. latter are fixed and local. Between 



The Sorghum Bug. (3IagniJled.) ^^^ ^^^ ^^.^ ^j^^ ^^^^^ I'^g^ ^l^i^^, 



behave as the plant parasites but 

 share the mobility of the plant 

 buo-s. This is a fundamental dis- 

 tinction when one regards the 

 insects from the economic point of 

 view, and entirely alters the charac- 

 ter of the treatment possible for 

 each form of disease. 



Plant Bugs. 



Among the occasional pests of 

 Indian crops, the plant bugs are 

 of common occurrence, doing in 

 the aggregate a considerable 

 amount of harm which very rarely 

 becomes apparent. These insects 

 live upon plants, sucking the juice 



Pig. 278. 

 The Fainted Bug. {Magnified.) 



