238 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 6 



depositing eggs. The writer learned that with the first appearance 

 of the wilting of the buds these same swarms of tarnished plant bugs 

 were present in the nursery blocks and from this and from later ex- 

 periments with a view of determining the effect of the feeding of this 

 pest upon peach buds, there can be no doubt but that in Missouri 

 the tarnished plant bug is the source of its injury to young peach 

 buds. The peach twig borer is often very troublesome in Missouri, 

 especially on older trees but very little of its injury occurred in this 

 nursery. The block of peaches found to be worst attacked stood 

 alongside a forty-acre field of clover which was in full bloom when 

 the writer visited the nursery. This clover was cut and cured a week 

 later which evidently destroyed the majority of the eggs deposited 

 by the tarnished plant bugs, for at no time later in the season were 

 they so abundant in this field or in the nursery though in other fields 

 they were plentiful all summer. 



The writer has not had any opportunity of making a careful study 

 of the early spring activity and development of this insect, but it 

 would seem that on emerging from its winter quarters the pest is 

 especially fond of the sap of peach and pear, but that after the first 

 brood of eggs are deposited in the spring, the insect, like some of the 

 orchard plant lice, prefers to feed upon the sap of other plants where 

 the eggs are deposited, so that in this latitude at least it seldom re- 

 turns to the nursery in destructive numbers. 



The writer has had an opportunity of following the pest through 

 the late summer and fall months and has learned a number of inter- 

 esting facts with reference to the insect and its activities during that 

 part of the year. It was found that the tarnished plant bug does not 

 deposit its eggs in the tissue of plants as some maintain, not even 

 in the soft stems of weeds. The ovipositor of the tarnished plant 

 bug does not seem to be sufficiently strong to enable it to drill into 

 tissues of plants. In this region it deposits its eggs, in the fall of the 

 year at least, only in the blossoms of flowers such as daisies, asters, 

 "mare's tail" (Erigeron canandensis) , etc. This latter weed is used 

 very largely for the depositing of eggs in the fall. The nymphs as well 

 as the adults feed upon the sap of this plant during the months of 

 August, September and October. They continue to breed upon it 

 until the first heavy frosts have completely killed out the plant and 

 driven them into winter quarters. It is not uncommon to find the 

 pest feeding as late as the first of November upon plants in sheltered 

 places. After frosts have destroyed most weeds and other plants 

 one can find the tarnished plant bugs collecting in swarms around 

 gardens, feeding upon the sap of turnips and other plants of this 

 type which are more resistant to frost. During the winter they are 



