THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 37 



Taney county, and this was the first announcement of its appearance in 

 Missouri. From the same source I learn that last July myriads of the 

 insects appeared on the cabbages of the Hon. Jesse Jennings in that county, 

 and that the plants were finally ruined. Thej- have likewise been found on 

 the grounds of Mr. B. F. Lee, in Marshfield, Webster count3^ Through the 

 kindness of Mr. Howard and of Mr. Townsend I have received a number of 

 specimens and have been enabled to present the following facts in its 

 economy : 



The eggs (Fig. 17, c), are 0.05 inch long and 0.03 inch wide, and, as 

 stated by Dr. Linceeum, are usually deposited in two rows of about half a 

 dozen each, and they are beautiful objects. When first deposited they are 

 of a light green color, but they soon become white, with black bands. They 

 may be likened to little barrels, for though the sides are straight, the edges 

 are rounded off and the black bands, recalling the hoops, and a black sjjot 

 near the middle, recalling the bung-hole, add to the resemblance. There 

 are two black bands, the upper thicker than the lower, and the black spot is 

 just above the lower band (Fig. 17, d). The upper edge is slightly crenated 

 and drawn a little over a convex lid which is marked with a crescent-shaped 

 black spot on the outside (Fig. 17, e). The inner sides by which the eggs 

 are fastened to each other are almost entirely black. In dej^ositino- the 

 •ovipositor is moved from row" to row in a zig-zag line. To afford a jjassao-e 

 to the young larva, one of the heads of the barrel — the one, of course, that 

 is not glued to the surface of the leaf— is detached by the beak of the little 

 embryo as neatly and as smoothly as if a skillful cooper had been at work 

 on it with his hammer and driver. And yet, instead of employing years in 

 acquiring the necessarj^ skill, the mechanic that performs this delicate opera- 

 tion with unerring precision, is actually not as yet born into this sublunary 

 world ! 



The larva (Fig. 17, a) is of a uniform pale greenish color, marked with 

 polished black as in the figure. The pupa (Fig. 17, h) differs from it only 

 in some'of the pale marks inclining to orange, and in the possession of con- 

 epicuous wing-j^ads; and the}' both differ from the mature bug, not onl}- in 

 the non-possession of wings, but in their antenna3 being but 4 instead of 5- 

 jointed, as they afterwards become. 



There are several broods of this bug during the course of the year, and 

 the eggs will sometimes hatch the third or fourth day after deposition; 

 while Mr. Howard informs me that the bugs will go through all their moult- 

 ings and be ready for reproduction within a fortnight. 



The mature bug (Fig. 17, ^ & h) is prettily marked with polished orange 

 and blue-black, the relative proportion of the two colors being very varia- 

 ble and the orange inclining either to yellow or red. Besides cruciferous 

 jjlants, Mr. Howard has found it feeding on a variety of the Pea. 



It is said that no criminal among the human race is so vile and de- 

 praved, that not one single redeeming feature can be discovered in his 

 character. It is just so with this insect. Unlike the great majority of the 

 -extensive group to which it belongs, it has no unsavory bedbuggy smell, 



