CHINCH BUG— ITS GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT. 287 



forty acres more, some parts of which were nearly destroyed, 

 others only slightly injured. One of my neighbors, had twenty- 

 six acres of corn completely destroyed by them last summer, and 

 fifty acres more greatly damaged. There was not a corn-field on 

 the prairie, in which the crop was not greatly damaged. I do 

 not know that they have ever been seen in this region, anywhere 

 else than on the prairies, till last summer. Then, they were seen 

 on farms formerly covered with timber, many miles distant from 

 any prairie. 



" The attention of people here, was so thoroughly called to 

 this insect, last summer, that when it appeared this spring, it 

 was readily recognized. It was first observed on fences, or flying 

 about, and alighting here and there, like other winged insects. 

 Soon it was found about the roots of wheat,— then in oatfields, 

 and in timothy grass. Wherever it has been seen among grain 

 or grass, some of the blades were seen to turn yellow, and the 

 growth to be checked, or stopped entirely; and in many cases, 

 the whole plant completely killed. Probably, not less than one- 

 third of the wheat crop, in this vicinity, has already been des- 

 troyed by them; and their destructive operations are still in 

 progress." 



In Virginia and Carolina during the past year or two there has 

 also been great complaints of this insect, and the present year 

 an editorial in the Richmond (Va.) Whig, the latter part of July, 

 says "A general alarm, from the mountains to the seaboard is 

 felt for the corn crop. The chinch bug is universal, and like 

 the sand of the sea-shore for numbers. Many corn-fields are 

 entirely destroyed by them already, and others can only be saved 

 by timely and copious rains." 



The chinch bug is probably a common insect through all the 

 southern states. I have received specimens of it from Mississippi, 

 and am informed it some years has done much injury to the crops 

 of Indian corn there. I also have a specimen from western 

 Pennsylvania. It therefore appears to occur in all parts of the 

 United States between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, although 

 in the Eastern and Middle states it is exceedingly rare. 



The three specimens which I have met with in this state, oc- 

 curred upon willows in the spring of 1847 and May 12th 1851. 



