492 THE CHINCH BUG. 
of the hay could be gathered in a proper condition. This was the 
state of affairs on July 5 when the hay was cut, and on October 10 
Doctor Lintner stated that owing to continued rains grass was still 
lying in the fields and could not be gathered, while fields of oats 
remained unharvested. In all of the reports given of this outbreak 
it was stated that the damage was first observed in August or Sep- 
tember, and it is believed that this will hold good as applied to 
northeastern Ohio. 
As has been stated, the females oviposit as a rule at or just below 
the surface of the ground, and the young make their way upward 
in order to secure food. In case of cultivated grains this mode of 
procedure is absolutely imperative, as the bases of the plants are at 
that time too tough and woody to offer sufficient food. But in the 
case of timothy the conditions are entirely different, as the bulb of 
this plant, situated just below the surface of the ground and con- 
venient to the place of oviposition, furnishes an ample supply of 
food without making it necessary for the young to crawl upward 
in order to secure it. Then, too, the surface of the ground in cul- 
tivated fields is nearly or quite free of dead leaves and stems, there 
being little but the vertical-growing plants to afford protection from 
the weather. In timothy meadows the surface of the ground is 
usually covered to the depth of an inch or more with dead and decay- 
ing stubble and leaves, and the top of the ground itself is often more 
or less loose and meilow in the immediate proximity to the bulbs of 
the plants. It would appear that we might here have a partial solu- 
tion of the problem of the vital effects of precipitation:on the young 
bugs. Besides, for aught we know, the progeny of this quite short- 
winged form may be better able to withstand naturally the effect of 
drenching rains than that of the east-bound long-winged form. We 
must recollect that in the one case the progenitors have worked their 
way over hot, arid plains as well as cool, damp prairies, while in the 
other case the tide of migration lay between the more elevated lands 
and the sandy beaches of the seashore where there was always a more 
or less near proximity to the ocean, until the tide of migration left the 
seashore and drifted westward over New York and onward into 
northeastern Ohio. (See map, fig. 17.) 
This influence of precipitation on the young chinch bugs while in 
the act of hatching, and that of temperature upon the adults in winter, 
some illustrations of which have been included under the subject of 
hibernation, are the only cases where meteorological conditions appear 
to have a direct effect on this species. As previously shown, the tem- 
perature effects are, largely at least, unfavorable for such adults as 
may happen to be more or less unprotected during the hibernating sea- 
son. Upon this point it might be well to suggest that this protection, 
