HEMIFTERA. 163 



marked with a yellowish line or a longitudinal series of yellow 

 spots on each side of the middle ; the legs are dirty brownish yel- 

 low, 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 Hues 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 char- 

 acters, which readily afford the means of identifying the species*. 

 I have taken this insect 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 Territory, 

 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 ob- 

 served ; and the insects, during the early periods of their exist- 

 ence, 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 afibrd 

 some aid in devising proper remedies against their ravages. Upon 

 a limited scale, as on plants growing in our gardens, may be tried 

 the effect of sprinkling them with alkaline solutions, such as strong 

 soap-suds, or potash-water, or with decoctions of tobacco and 

 of walnut leaves, or of dusting the plants with air-slacked lime or 

 sulphur. But in field husbandry such applications would be im- 



* This species bears a very close resemblance to one which I have received 

 from Sweden, under the name of Phytocoris campestris of Linnaeus and Fallen ; 

 but it is larger and proportionally broader, the punctures of the thorax are deeper, 

 and the yellow spot on the wing-covers is much more conspicuous than in the 

 Swedish co-species. My description oC Phytocoris lineolaris, was drawn up from 

 living specimens. They fade very much after death. 



