203 



oil Iciives or stems and hi'ccd on trees and shrubs, l)iit also occur on 

 herbaceous ])hints. IVobably these species hibernate in the egg, which, 

 according- to Riley, hatches about the middle of May. The record 

 strongly indictates that there is but one brood a year, nymphs occurring 

 from about the middle of May to late in July and imagos from July 

 to the end of the season. 



That tliese insects are es))ecially sensitive to the effects of rainy 

 weather and are not suflicieidly protected from it when on the corn 

 plant, was strikingly shcnvn by colonies of Chlorochara conica observed 

 by us. After a heavy rain very few could be found on corn-stalks where 

 they had been conunon before, while on plants which afforded them 

 Ix'tter shelter their nurnlxu's were little diminished. 



The Micaly Flata. 



Ormenis pruinosa Say. 



Miss Murtfeldt found this Flata (Fig. 210; PI. VIll.,Fig. 2) especially 

 destructive to dahlias, which were injured beyond recovery. We have 

 taken it once on corn atnl once on sorghum, but not doing ap])reciable 

 injviry. The eggs (Fig. 211) are laid in a lengthwise row 

 in a slit in the bark of twigs. The adults are about 

 a cpiarter of an inch long, at first pale bluish green, 

 darkening to slate color or sooty brown, with a whitish 

 '"bloom." The species is found in the United States, 

 Mexico, and the West Indies. 



Fio. 210. The 

 Mealy Flata, Orme- 

 nis pruinosa. En- 

 larged as indicated. 



Thio (jReen Flata. 



(Jklorochara conica Say. 



(Chlorochroa conica . ) 



This species was found by an assistant of this ofhce, 

 Mr. C. C. Adams, l^reeding quite abundantly in one 

 corner of a corn field near Urbana on the corn-stalks, 

 and also on ragweed, catnip, and milkweed, and the 

 adjacent hedge. They formed larg(! colonies on the 

 l)ases of the corn-stalks not mon; than a few inches 

 from the ground. After a heavy rain had swe[)t 

 most of them off the corn they were still abundant on 

 the ragweed and catnip. Later they became more 

 abundant on the hedge, which jirobably affords them a 

 more suitable food. The year following they were 

 again found in the same place in smaller numbers on 

 the corn and weeds and on the hedge. 

 The woolly secretion develops only on the abdominal surface of the 

 nymph. The adults (Fig. 209) are about three eighths of an inch long, 



Fio. 211. The 

 Mealy Flata, Orme- 

 nis pruinosa: a, 

 eggs; 6, in bark of 

 twig; c, natural 

 size. 



