August, '14] WHITMARSH: THE GREEX SOLDIER BUG 337 



the quantities of worthless, gnarled fruit lying on the ground could 

 doubt their statements in the least. Many of the Elljerta trees 

 showed a loss of two, three, or more bushels per tree. 



Character of injury. These bugs commence feeding on the small 

 fruit during the last part of June and in early July, and continue work- 

 ing upon the fruit until late fall. They feed by puncturing the skin 

 with the beak, and by sucking the juice from the flesh of the fruit. 

 In a short time, a small droplet of gum appears at the injured point, 

 which in time becomes irregular in outline, owing to the fact that the 

 cells about the puncture are killed, thus making them incapable of 

 further growth. The degree of irregularity, of course, depends upon 

 the number of punctures. Where the fruit is badly punctured, it be- 

 comes entirely unsalable, while extra fine fruit showing but one or two 

 punctures has to be graded lower, thus decreasing its value. 



Injury of 1912, and note on life history. Practically no damage 

 was done during the year, and so far as I was able to find out from the 

 growers and by making a visit to the previously infested district, hardly 

 a bug was seen. One egg-mass, however, was found, of this species, 

 while collecting at Wooster, on a leaf of Viburnum jirunifoUum (black- 

 haw) the last week in June, which hatched on July 1 . From this egg- 

 cluster I was enabled to carry two specimens, a male and female, 

 through five instars to the adult stage, which was reached on September 

 1 and 2. 



Notes for 1913, and a further account of the life history. 

 The past season, these bugs were reported as occurring in small num- 

 bers on peaches in the previously infested district along Lake Erie, 

 but the damage done was but slight compared to that of 1911. While 

 collecting in and about Wooster, I found them particularly abundant 

 on wild cherrj' in the latter part of June, and afterwards on elderberry, 

 black-haw and dogwood {Cornus alternifoUa) , thereby enabling me 

 to work out the life history in detail, both in the field and laboratory. 

 The first appearance of the adult form, after hibernating through the 

 winter in protected places under leaves and loose earth, was aljout the 

 middle of June. The time of appearance is undoul)tedly controlled 

 by the season, probably occurring a little later than usual the past 

 year, as it was comparatively backward. I found five adults on June 

 11, on wild cherry, and after that date found them in abundance up 

 until the latter part of June, when the number of adults seemed to 

 decrease until one could hardly find a. specimen after the middle of 

 July. The decrease in adults was marked by a corresponding increase 

 in the number of immature bugs. 



The eggs laid by different females sometimes varj^ in color; com- 

 monly she desposits light, yellow-colored eggs, but occasionally will 



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