GENERAL CROP PESTS 87 



Leafhoppers may also be captured on sticky surfaces, and 

 one good way of destroying them in small gardens is by causing 

 them to fly up and capturing them on large frames coated with 

 sticky substances such as coal tar. If this method is persisted in 

 for several days few of the insects will be left, as they are 

 readily caught. A good time for this work is just before sun- 

 down. Special hopper-dozers are used for leafhoppers, similar 

 to those described as grasshopper destroyers (page 71). Some 

 of these are termed "hopperettes." 



The Tarnished Plant-bug (Lygus pratensis Linn.). — This bug 



Fig. 49 —Tarnished plant-bug. Adult at left: last stage of nymph at right 

 (Author's illustration, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



is one of the most troublesome of its kind. It is found prac- 

 tically everywhere in North America, and attacks many plants, 

 cultivated and wild. It occurs throughout the warm season, and 

 frequently does damage to vegetables and to trees grown in 

 nurseries. The mature plant-bug (fig. 49) is of nearly elliptical 

 form, and considerably flattened. The head is nearly triangular, 

 with the eyes showing prominently at the sides. It is pale, 

 obscure, grayish brown, marked with black and yellow, the 

 thorax also with red. The length is about one-fifth of an inch. 

 With little doubt this plant-bug has five stages of the nymphs 

 to agree with related species which have been traced through 

 their metamorphoses. The first stage measures only about one- 



