12 THE CHINCH BUG. 
It therefore seems probable that no young are produced as a result 
of the late pairing, at least until spring, and it has yet to be shown 
that the late appearing larve do not mature before the hibernating 
season sets in, or else die during the winter. When we come to con- 
sider the extreme susceptibility of the newly hatched chinch bug to 
wet weather, less perhaps in case of the short-winged form, it will be 
apparent that as we approach the Tropics the wet and dry seasons 
would tend to influence the breeding seasons, as those individuals that 
hatched before the close of the rainy season would be, in a measure at 
least, continually eliminated, while those that hatched so late as to be 
caught in the commencement of the rainy season would also be to an 
equal extent destroyed, and thus, by continually restricting the breed- 
ing period to certain months, establish a fixed law that would be ad- 
hered to even under the somewhat different conditions which occur 
farther to the northward. Unfortunately the date or dates on which 
the young were observed by Mr. Champion, on Volean de Chiriqui, 
in Panama, are unknown to the writer, and it is impossible to say 
whether or not they were found during or near the dry season. 
In an article on the hibernation of the chinch bug, Mr. C. L. Mar- 
latt * calls particular attention to the fact that in Kansas the chinch 
bug in autumn seeks the dense stools of some of the wild grasses in 
which to hibernate, and to such an extent did this occur that it was 
suggested as probably the normal hibernating habit of the species. 
Before entering into a discussion of this matter, it will be well to 
present two communications received from the late Dr. J. C. Neal, at 
that time of Stillwater, Okla. As Doctor Neal was located in a sec- 
tion of the country where, in many cases, civilization had not in- 
fluenced to such a marked degree the natural insect fauna, the author 
applied to him to secure some exact information in regard to the 
chinch bug under such conditions. The correspondence, however, 
was terminated suddenly by Doctor Neal’s death. The two letters 
here given are among the last he ever penned. They are of a some- 
what general nature, and will be referred to later in this discussion. 
OKLAHOMA AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE, 
Stillwater, Okla., October 31, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: Yours of the 28th just received. Last year was the first wheat 
year in most of the new additions to this Territory, and from all sections the 
cry was for infection, as ‘the bugs are ruining us.” I received letters from 
every county in the strip and in the western sections. The most damage was 
done in the extreme southern range of counties, and near Okarche (see map, 
fig. 10) the damage was excessive. I do not think there is a single acre in this 
or Indian Territory that is not saturated, so to speak, with the chinch bug. 
You may put this whole area down as within the infested boundary line. 
My belief is that the increase of country roads, the decrease of March fires, 
the shiftless habits of the vast majority of our farmers in allowing volunteer 
4 Insect Life, Vol. VII, pp. 282-234, 1894. 
