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second brood hatches out.late in summer. Although only two genera- 

 tions are usually produced in the course of one year in Illinois and the 

 more northern States, yet farther south there may be three broods. 

 Some of the perfect insects continue alive throughout the winter, con- 

 cealed under brush-heaps, logs, bark, stones, moss, &c., and revive in 

 the spring to deposit their eggs in the earth. One specimen was taken 

 in Washington, buried in the ground at a depth of about one inch and 

 a half, in midwinter, and when first taken up appeared stiff and lifeless,' 

 but, after being placed in a warm room, it soon revived, and was as 

 lively as ever. These insects in the larva3, pupte, and perfect states 

 attack and destroy almost every description of garden-vegetables, grain, 

 maize, herds and other grasses, wheat, oats, potatoes, and even iujure 

 buds of the pear and other trees, preferring principally the most succu- 

 lent parts, as the buds and terminal shoots, puncturing them with their 

 beaks, sucking the sap, and apparently poisoning the parts attached. In 

 the summer of I860, according to Dr. Shimer, the progeny of the broods 

 of the preceding year were entirely swept off by an epidemic disease, 

 which was doubtless produced by deficient light and electricity com- 

 bined with the excessive humidity of the atmosphere. 



This insect was named and described by Say, in 1831, as from Indiana, 

 and in 1854 did considerable injury in Missouri. In hot, dry seasons 

 these insects are most destructive, but heavy rains destroy them. In 

 the single State of Illinois, Dr. Shimer estimated the damage done in 

 1864 to the wheat and corn crops by the chinch-bug at over $73,000,000; 

 and to give some idea of how these insects swarm in localities, it has been 

 stated that in Ogle County, Illinois, as many as thirty to forty bushels 

 a day were taken out of holes dug to entrap them, and the x)rocess was 

 repeated until only three or four bushels could be shoveled out of the 

 holes. 



It is probable that the normal state of this insect is to take wing in 

 spring and summer, during their love season, but at other times they 

 appear unwilling to use their wings at all ; and it is said that there are 

 two varieties, one with long and the other with short wings. It is also 

 stated that this insect is found in Canada, and was remarkable for hav- 

 ing the wings only half as long as the abdomen. Chinch-bugs multiply 

 much faster in dry seasons, wet weather being unfavorable to them. 



They are destroyed by several parasites, among which are several 

 species of lady-bugs, {Coccinellidce.) The false chinch-bug, an insect 

 mentioned below, and which, in outward appearance, very much resem- 

 bles the true chinch-bug, is said to kill them 5 and two or three 

 lace-wing flies are said to destroy them. The common quail is 

 stated to eat numbers of them, and therefore these birds should 

 be preserved as much as possible, by wheat-growers especially, 

 as the stomachs of some shot in wheat-fields were found to be 

 filled with these destructive pests. The pseudo or false chinch-bug, or 

 insidious flower-bug, above mentioned, has frequently been mistaken for 

 the true chinch, as it resembles it somewhat in shape and size. It is 

 found upon the same flowers and leaves, but the larvae are of a bright 

 orange color, and not of a vivid red, like those of the true chinch ; and the 

 perfect insect is also smaller, of a broader form, and marked in a different 

 manner. It is probably highly beneficial, by feeding on other insects. 

 Two European species, A. minutus and nemorum, have been well known 

 as preying on plant-lice. The perfect insects inhabit flowers, and the 

 immature ones wander about in search of plant-lice, which they transfix 

 with their sharp beaks, and suck out the juices. Our native species 

 {Anthocoris insidiosus) most probably also feeds on the true chinch and 



