INJURING THE STALK AND LEAF 



225 



" The Chinch Bug is practically confined for food 

 to the great family of grasses (Graminece) which con- 

 tains all the cereals and grasses, tame and wild. 

 Some of these, however, it feeds upon with reluc- 

 tance, if at all ; and among the ordinary objects of 

 its food it has its very decided preferences. Among 

 the erop plants, wheat, barley and rye, sorghum, 

 broom-corn and Indian corn, millet and Hungarian 

 grass are its favorite foods, with oats clearly second 

 to these ; while among the wild grasses, its prefer- 

 ence is for fox-tail grass and 'tickle grass ' (Setaria 



and Eragrostis)." 



The Chinch Bug is sub- 

 ject to the attack of various 

 predaceous insects and ver- 

 tebrate enemies. Of the 

 former the lady-bugs fur- 

 nish a good example, and 

 of the latter certain birds, 

 especially the quail, may 

 be mentioned. But these 

 enemies are insignificant 

 so far as concerns their 

 effects upon the numbers 

 of the bugs, when com- 

 pared with certain fungous 

 or bacterial diseases to 

 which these pests are lia- 

 ble. These diseases sweep 

 them off by the million, and are usually the most 

 potent factor in cheeking their out-breaks. One of 



Fig. 119. Chinch Bugs affected 

 by Entomophthora. 



