16G INSECTS AFFECTING THE ORANGE. 



and causing the fruit to drop from the trees and rot rapidly. Attention 

 was first called to this new habit of the bug by letters to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture from South Florida, in December, 1879. Since 

 that time numerous reports have been received of excessive injuries 

 done, especially in cases where cotton is raised among or in close proxim- 

 ity to the orange trees. 



The Cotton Stainer may be distinguished from all other Soldier-bugs, 

 some of which resemble it superficially, by its rather oval form, deep 

 coral-red color, and white markings, which form a collar-ring behind 

 the head, and a border upon each joint of the body. The wings of the 

 young are mere pads of black color, but in the adult they cover the 

 body, and are crossed with narrow lines of white, forming the shoulder- 

 straps, from which these insects take the name " Soldier- bugs." 



Broods, Habits, &c. — There are many broods during the warm months 

 and even in mid- winter the young may often be found. 



The principal food of the bug is the oil of cotton seed, to obtain which 

 it punctures the hard seed-coats. It also feeds upon the seeds of other 

 Malvaceous plants, although the precise species attacked have not been 

 ascertained. In winter the Eed Bug may be found gathered in vast 

 numbers upon the heaps of waste cotton seed about the gin houses. 



The eggs are oval in shape, amber-colored, with a pearly luster, and 

 present, under a lens, a pattern of closely reticulated lines. They have 

 been sent to the Department of Agriculture from the Indian River, 

 Fla., in April, " laid in a group of twenty-one upon the under side of an 

 orange leaf." * That this disposition of the eggs is normal may be some- 

 what doubtful. In winter at least, and around gin houses, the eggs aie 

 dropped loosely in the sand, and among the heaps of cotton seed upon 

 which the bugs are feeding. 



Attacks upon the Orange. — In January and February, if the weather 

 is mild, the Red Bugs desert the fields where they have lingered upon 

 the dead trash and waste of the cotton, and suddenly make their ap- 

 pearance in the orange groves. Usually this takes place only in groves 

 adjoining fields that have been planted in cotton, but, as they are 

 strong flyers, the bugs not unfrequently migrate in considerable num- 

 bers to a distance even of several miles. 



At first, only adults are seen ; these at once attack the fruit upon the 

 trees. A week or ten days later, the wingless young appear; always 

 upon the ground, clustering upon the fallen fruit. If the trees are not 

 stripped and the fruit harvested before the young brood become adult 

 and acquire wings, the entire crop will be lost. Even the packing-house 

 is not safe from invasion, and fruit is apt to be destroyed after it has 

 been gathered and stored in the bins. 



In puncturing the orange, the bugs insert their slender sucking beak, 

 often its entire length, and although the oil of the rind forms their 

 principal food, they, nevertherless, frequently regale themselves with 



* Report of the Commissioners of Agriculture for 1879, p. 204. 



