399 



MiLLiKEN (F. B.). Nysius ericae, the False Chinch Bug.— J?. Agric. 

 Research, Washington, D.C., xiii, no. 11, lOtli June 1918, pp. 571- 

 578, 2 plates. 



Nysius ericae, Schilling {angustatus, Uhler) (false chinch bug) has 

 been for many years a serious pest in the semi-arid regions of the 

 United States, causing great damage to sugar-beet and cruciferous 

 garden crops, by settling upon them suddenly in enormous numbers 

 and sucking so much sap from them that the plants wilt beyond 

 recovery in a day or two. 



The eggs are deposited in loose soil, among clods or rubbish ; in 

 composite flowers, such as those of Gaillardia pulchellu ; between the 

 glumes in grasses, such as Eragrostis major ; among the clustered 

 parts of plants, such as thyme-leaved spurge {Chamaesyce serpyllifolia) 

 and carpet- weed {Mollugo verticillata) ; among the down of cottonwood 

 trees {Populus spp.) and in similar places. 



With an average temperature of about 80° F., the eggs hatch in 

 about 4 days. The nymphal period, during which there are normally 

 5 moults, has an average length of about 20 days, a greater or less 

 number of moults, however, being not only possible, but probable. 

 Newly matured females have never been observ^ed to mate in less 

 than three days, oviposition occurring one day later. 



The seasonal reproductive activity of this species is greatest during 

 May and June, and again during September and October. The 

 minimum number of generations in an average season beginning 

 about 1st June is five, and since the species hibernates in the egg- 

 stage, or as a young nymph which completes its development very 

 early the next spring, to these must be added the overwintering 

 generation and a possible generation in the spring, making seven 

 in all. 



BuRRiLL (A. C). Losses caused by the Clover Aphis. — Univ. Idaho 

 Agric. Expt. Sta., Moscow, Id., Bull. no. 104, January 1918, 

 pp. 26-29. [Received 22nd July 1918.] 



This paper, which is included in the annual report for the year 

 1917, contains an account of Aphis bakeri, Cowen (clover aphis). 

 This pest causes a loss of as much as 75 per cent, of a normal crop 

 bv sucking the sap and thus reducing the yield of seed. Later in the 

 season the great accumulations of honey dew produced by it clogs 

 the threshing machines and causes the seed to solidify like cement 

 in the sacks, resulting in great trouble and expense in harvesting and 

 marketmg. 



The winged form of this Aphid is supposed to migrate from fruit 

 trees to clover in the spring, and back again to fruit trees in the autumn. 

 The fact that it is fomid on clover so early in spring as to preclude 

 the possibility of its having migrated thither from fruit trees led to 

 the belief that it also oviposited on clover. This early appearance is 

 however explained by the fact that winged forms are produced con- 

 tinuously through the summer and autumn and even into midwinter, 

 having occurred in January 1918 when snow was on the ground. 

 This fact negatives any plan of control by crop rotation, cultivation 

 or irrigation, or by the use of a dormant spray on fruit trees to prevent 



