New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 531 



the application must be made early in the season before the web 

 which the mites spin has been made sufficiently thick to resist 

 the spray. 



The Chinch Bug. 



This insect {BUssus leucopterus Say), has been reported to us 

 from the eastern, central and western sections of the state. 

 Judging from letters received, the damage done in the west- 

 ern section of the state was inore serious than elsewhere. To 

 furnish timely information concerning the pest, the following cir- 

 cular was sent to the newspapers of the state: 



Notes on the Chinch Bug. 



Among the multitude of injurious insects with which the farmer has 

 to deal there is one which, as a destroyer of valuable farm crops, seems 

 to have but few if any superiors. This is the chinch buf,^ Naturally, 

 then, the appearance of this insect in seriously injurious numbers within 

 the borders of our state causes some alarm among farmers and others 

 interested in agricultural pursuits. Letters received at the State Experi- 

 ment Station indicate that this insect has occurred in sufficient numbers 

 during the past season to cause injury to the grass and grain crops in 

 various sections of the state. A few remarks, therefore, concerning this 

 pest will be of interest at this time. 



Although apparently a Southern insect, the chinch bug has invaded 

 many sections of the North. It Is now well known in Maine, and is 

 found in some parts of Canada. According to numerous accounts, it 

 was first found in this couuti-y in North Carolina in 1783. After having 

 become well established in some of the Eastern states it appeared in 

 injurious numbers in 1839 in some of the then Western states, being 

 reported from the northern part of Illinois and along the upper Missis- 

 sippi. From this time on it became a much dreaded pest throughout this 

 section, extending its ravages into Kansas, Nebraska, Indiana and Ohio. 

 The first record which we have of its appearance in New York state is in 

 Dr. Fitch's Second Report as State Entomologist, in which he states 

 thait he found three specimens in this state in 1848 and 1851. Fortunately 

 for us it has not gained the strong hold in New York which characterizes 

 its invasion into southern and more western states. It did, however, 

 appear in injurious numbers in 1882, 1888, and again in 1894. During the 

 past season, also, complaints of the injury caused by this insect have 

 come to the Station from points within the state quite widely distant, 

 some of the letters indicating that the bugs were very abundant. 



In size the chinch bug is a dwarf compared to many of our injurious 

 species of insects and a giant when compared witli others. A mature 



