300 INSECTS INFESTING THE SQlfASH. 



CHAPTER CC. 



The Squash Bug. (Cal.) 



{Corev.s tristis. — DcGeer.) 



Order, Hemipteka ; ) -p, ., ^, 



r, 1 ' 1 XT ' Family, Corisid.e. 



[Living U})on the leaves and fruit of the S(iuash and jjumpkiii 

 vines ; a rusty-l>laek elongated bug whieh i)unctnres the plants 

 with its l^eak anil inil)ibes the sap.] 



Fig. 29G.— S(iuash lUig— colors blackish Fig. 296. 

 brown and dirty yellow. 



The perfeet or winged bugs (Fig. 290) pass 

 the Winter in some sheltered situation ; they 

 are about seven lines long, of a dirty yellow 

 color beneath and black above, the projecting 

 edges of the abdomen spotted with pale yel- 

 low ; the wing-covers are rusty black, with the 

 thin overlapijing ends black. 



The females lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves, to 

 which they fasten them with a gummy substance. 



The young are of a gray color, and as they increase in size 

 and by molting their skins, they change to a dull yellow 

 color. The leaves on which the young feed soon wither and 

 become dry and wrinkled ; the bugs then change to fresh 

 leaves, and in this manner the vine is eventually destroyed. 



The S(iuash bug can be found in all stages of its growth 

 throughout the Summer season. It hibernates around fences, 

 crevices of walls, among weeds, and in other sheltered places. 

 In .lanuary, 1882, I found on pine trees, which were covered 

 with ivy, immense numbers of squash bugs in all stages of 

 their existence — larva, pupa and imago. 



Remedies. — Use Nos. 20 and 19, or No. 64 ; thorough spray- 

 ing with the latter (No. 04), one pound of the soap to each 

 gallon of water, then adding the buhach, as described, will be 

 etleetual. See also No. 114. 



