STINK-BUG FAMILY. 89 
if it were gradually coming northward. Much has been pub- 
lished about this insect. Prof. Comstock writes as follows: 
“Among the species of the Pentatomide that feed upon 
cultivated plants, the Harlequin Cabbage-bug, or ‘Calico-back’ 
as it is called in some sections, is the most important pest. It 
is a very common insect in the Southern States. It occurs from 
New Jersey southward and westward. I have specimens from 
Colorado and Arizona. It feeds upon cabbages, turnips, and 
other cruciferous plants; it is also found sometimes on plants not 
closely related to the cabbage. The adult bug measures about 
ten mm. (0.4 in.) in length. It is polished blue-black, banded, 
striped, and margined above with yellow and orange spots; and 
Fic. 85.—Murgantia histrionica Hahn: 
a, young; b, half grown; c, egg clus- 
ter; d, from side; e, same from above, 
f, adult, wings closed; g, same, wings 
open; c, f, g,natural size; a,b, slightly : : 
enlarged; d, e, considerably enlarged. Fic. 86.—Lioderma ligata Stal. 
f&.. After Riley, Div. of Entomology, Dept. Original. 
of Agriculture. 
the head has generally two white spots on the front. The rela- 
tive proportions of the black and the light colors vary- greatly 
in the different specimens. This bug winters in the adult state; 
in early spring it emerges and lays its eggs on the young plants. 
The eggs are usually attached to the lower surface of the leaves 
in two parallel rows of about six each. The young larva is of 
a uniform pale-green color, marked with black; with the suc- 
cessive moults the various orange markings appear. In the im- 
mature stages the antenne are only four-jointed. This insect 
develops very rapidly; the eggs hatch on the third day after 
they are laid; and it is said that the bugs will pass through all 
their moults and be ready for reproduction in two weeks. There 
