138 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF 



gladden the heart of any grape-grower, who had long looked upon the 

 leaf-hopper as a permanent evil against which he could not success- 

 fully contend." 



Moving about among the leaves our little Soldier-bug* was often 

 seen in its pretty full dress uniform, but far more commonly disguised 

 in its larval or pupal coat; for it is only when full grown and full 

 fledged that it present si he appearance of the first figure. The larva and 

 pupa both have an opaque, mealy, bluish-white appearance, and the 

 [Fig. 50.] latter differs only from the former in the more conspicuous 

 wing stubs, which project so as to give it a somewhat 

 diamond shaped outline (Fig. 59.) It is during these im- 

 mature, and less conspicuous stages that this insect doubt- 

 .less does most of its work, for in common with the rest of 

 the true Bugs (Ileteroptera) it is active and feeds during 

 its whole life, from the time it hatches from the egg till it 

 dies of old age. 



When I first saw the hosts of leaf-hoppers so mercilessly stabbed, 

 I was at considerable loss to understand what animal could be so wary 

 and dexterous as to surprise insects so shy and active, and with such 

 wonderful jumping powers as the leaf-hoppers possess, and I could 

 not rest sure that it was our little Glassy-winged Soldier-bug till I had 

 enclosed specimens in a bottle with living leaf-hoppers, and found 

 the latter dead next day. Like many other animals of prey, it can 

 move actively when necessary, but no doubt prefers to surprise its 

 victims by stealth, assisted perhaps by its colors which resemble those 

 of the leaf-hoppers themselves. 



The more common color of this insect is pale greenish-yellow. 

 The antennae are brown with the basal joint and sometimes part of 

 the second joint blood-red. The head and thorax are pale yellow 

 with a slight tinge of pink, and the eyes, neck, and front part of the 

 thorax, except a pale line on the back, are jet black in high contrast. 

 The scutel is pale yellow or white, and black at base, and the upper 

 wings (hemclytra) are beautifully transparent with a rose-colored cross 

 band and a dusky curved line. The species is a very variable one, 

 however, being dichromous or double-colored, some varieties pos- 

 sessing much more brown than others, and having no rose-color at 

 all. In a variety kindly sent me by Mr. P. R. Uhler, of Baltimore, 

 Maryland, the antennas are pale, and there is no black on the thorax 

 in front, but a large brown patch behind; there is also a large brown 

 patch each side of the scutel, and the rosy transverse band on the 

 wings is quite brown. 



Now this insect is commonly found by collectors in the fall of the 

 year on different kinds of Oak, but no one ever heard before of its 



:; "I have preferred to apply this popular term to this species, because its black", white and red 



mark.-, and its war-like propensities suggest something of the sort; and though the term is more 



. and correctly applied to larger cannibal bu^s belonging to the genus At ma, yet it is not ln- 



appropriate here, and will appeal to the popular mind far more readily than the generic name Carn- 



pyloneura, or the English rendition of it, curved-nerve. 



