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54 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
lina, South Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Tllinoi 
southern Wisconsin, lowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Uhler | 2 
records the species from Texas, California, Kansas, Nebraska, Wiseons 
sin, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, and generally throughout the At- — 
lantic region. * 
Outside of the United States it is recorded only from Cuba (see | 
Signoret, ‘‘ Hssai Monographique du Genre Micropus, Spinola,” Ann, 
Soc. Hnt. France, V, 3d series, 1857, p. 31), and the Cuban individ- if 
uals are long-winged, while Mr. Schwarz never found a long-winged 
individual -in Florida, in spite of the fact that he has collected in jo- 
calities the insect fauna of which is in the main Cuban. This ob- 
servation conflicts with the general observation of Mr. Uhler that 
the short-winged form seems to be more common in New England 
than in the Southern States. 
The only authentic record of the occurrence of the Chinch Bug 
west of the Rocky Mountains is the mere mention by Uhler, in his 
List of the Hemiptera of the Region west of the Mississippi River 
(Bull. Hayden Surv., I, 306), of California as one of the States 
v ich it inhabits, but this record has been overlooked by Califor- — 
-iuans. Its advent upon the Pacific slope has been expected and 
dreaded. Matthew Cooke, in his book published in 1883 upon in- 
jurious insects of the orchard, vineyard, etc., figured and described. 
it, and under the head of ‘“‘ remedies” wrote: ‘‘Should this pest ap- 
pear in this State it can be prevented, etc.” 
In June, 1885, there were several newspaper reports on the oceur- 
rence of this insect in great numbers in batifornia, The San Fran- 
cisco Evening Post for June 23, 1885, quoting from the Woodland 
Democrat, published the statement: ‘‘ Messrs. Frazee and Hender- 
son, who live southwest of Woodland, brought to this office a bottle 
of this pestiferous insect (Chinch Bug) on Tuesday. Mr. Henderson 
says that he recognized them as the same Eastern variety that fre- 
quently does so much injury to wheat in Missouri. » These gentlemen 
say they discovered the bugs traveling between the lands of Day and 
Clanton. Thereare millions of them, but as to the extent of coun- 
try covered they are unable to say. The bugs are nearly grownand 
are just beginning to have wings. As soon as the wings develop 
they fly and scatter everywhere. Mr. Frazee says there is no danger 
from them this year as the grain is too far advanced.” So far this 
item seems very plausible, but it goes on to state ‘‘ that another gen- 
tleman had noticed them injure grape-vines,” which, of course, in- 
troduces a probability of wrong identification. 
There is no question, howeyer, but that the Chinch Bug is to be 
found at present in California, but not the certainty of its existence 
in injurious numbers. Our certainty as to its presence arises from 
the fact that a single specimen of a short-winged variety of thisin- ~ 
sect is among a lot collected in the vicinity of San Francisco in 1885 
by Mr. Koebele. It is unquestionably a true Chinch Bug. Another 
specimen of the same variety was collected in 1884 by some students 
of Johns Hopkins University, who summered in California, and was 
given to Mr. Lugger, of this Division, who was at that time con> 
nected with the university. Recent communications from Califor- 
nia, in answer to inquiries on this point, show that the insect is not 
known to the entomologists in that State. The False Chinch-bug 
(Nysius angustatus) has been, we learn from Mr. Koebele, very de- 
structive to Grape in that State the past season, and it is more than 
likely that this is the insect referred to in the newspaper article just 
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