308 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



clay-yellow, elongate elliptical and slightly less than ^ inch 

 in length. The eggs are deposited in clusters of eighty to over 

 one hundred in the ground in late 

 summer or fall. They hatch in two 

 or three weeks. The first stage larva 

 is black, about tV inch in length and 

 in structure resembles that of the 

 striped blister-beetle. The larvae feed 

 on grasshopper eggs, adults having 

 been reared from larvae found in the 

 egg-pods of the Rocky Mountain locust. 

 There is only one brood annually. 



/fe" l^H "\ C)n the Pacific Coast a closely related 



^tpPr ^^ black blister-beetle, Epicauta piincti- 

 F , igs _ Th black ^o/Zi^ Mann, has been reported as 

 blister-beetle (X 3i). injurious to potato and aster. 



Nuttall's B lister-Beetle 



Cantharis nuttalli Say 



The head and prothorax of Nuttall's blister-beetle (Fig. 189) 

 are green, often with coppery or purplish 

 reflections, and the insect is from f to 1 

 inch in length. The wing-covers vary 

 from dark purplish green to a rich bronzy 

 purple. The antennae and legs are dark 

 greenish or bluish. The underside of the 

 body is dark green. This beautiful beetle 

 ranges from Saskatchewan southward west 

 of the ]\Iississippi and east of the Rockies 

 to New Mexico. The life history has not 

 been worked out but the larviie are sup- 

 posed to feed on grasshopper eggs. The fig. 189.- Nuttall's 

 beetles often appear in swarms and devour blister-beetle (x I2). 



