April, '13] HASEMAN: PEACH STOP BACK 239 



to be found by the thousands in and among the leaves of mullen plants 

 where in this latitude they crawl about on warm days during the 

 winter. Judging from the number of tarnished plant bugs which have 

 gone into winter quarters, we may expect very severe injury to nursery 

 stock in the spring. 



A study of the development of the tarnished plant bug during the 

 fall months has proven most interesting. In these studies the writer 

 finds that the pest completes its cycle in thirty to thirty-five days dur- 

 ing the months of September and October and he is of the opinion 

 that during the summer months the life cycle is completed in from 

 twenty to twenty-five days. It has been found that the pest has five 

 distinct nymphal stages in place of four, as has always been main- 

 tained, therein agreeing with other closely related Hemiptera. It is 

 not strange that the one nymphal stage has been overlooked by other 

 workers, for it was not until a great many specimens had been fol- 

 lowed from the egg through the first three nymphal stages, that the 

 stage which has always been overlooked was finally discovered. The 

 confusion is with the first three nymphal stages. The writer soon 

 found that he had a nymph which in size, shape and markings did 

 not agree either with the newly hatched nymph or the stage figured 

 by other writers as the second nymphal stage. For a time it was 

 considered as the early second stage but when it was found that it 

 molted on assuming the form of the supposed mature second stage, 

 it was clear that this was a distinct stage. This was confirmed over 

 and over later with first stage nymphs. In a number of cases the writer 

 has been able to carry individual specimens of the insect from the 

 freshly laid egg through the five nymphal stages to the adult form. 

 The life cycle and development of the tarnished plant bug will be 

 discussed more in detail in another paper. 



The subject of the control of the tarnished plant bug is one that 

 deserves special attention for the injury to nursery stock alone is 

 very considerable each year and the damage to vegetables and small 

 fruits is not to be overlooked. This insect will probably never be 

 controlled by any one method though by resorting to a number of 

 simple methods of insect control it can be kept in check. During the 

 late summer and fall all weeds and other blooming plants which pro- 

 vide a place for oviposition and food for the young and old insects 

 should be carefully destroyed. Fence rows, roadsides and waste lands 

 always furnish breeding grounds for this insect and they should be 

 kept free from weeds, or all infested weeds should be sprayed regu- 

 larly with a strong contact wash. Hundreds of tarnished plant bugs 

 will mature on a single isolated weed during the summer months. 

 In the winter all harboring places of the hibernating adults should be 



