HEMIPTEBA. 



the feet are blackish. The females are most often of a pale 

 olive-green, or of a dirty greenish-yellow color ; the thorax 

 spotted and more or less distinctly striped with black, and the 

 thick part of the wing-covers also variegated with dusky or 

 brownish lines and clouds. In both sexes, however, the yel- 

 low V, or the three spots on the thorax, and the large yellow 

 spot tipped with black on the wing-covers, are conspicuous 

 characters, which readily afford the means of identifying the 

 species. I have taken this insect in the spring, as early as the 

 20th of April, and in the autumn, as late as the middle of 

 October ; from which I infer that it passes the winter in the 

 perfect state in some place of security. It is most abundant 

 during the months of June and July. Specimens have been 

 sent to me from Maine, New York, North Carolina, and 

 Alabama, and Mr. Say records its occurrence in Pennsyl- 

 vania, Indiana, the Northwest Territory, and Missouri. It 

 seems, therefore, to be very generally diffused throughout 

 the Union. 



The history of this species is yet imperfect. We know not 

 where and when the eggs are laid ; the young have not been 

 observed ; and the insects, during the early periods of their 

 existence, have escaped notice, and are only known to us 

 after they have completed their final transformations. It is 

 possible that further information upon the history of these in- 

 sects may afford some aid in devising proper remedies against 

 their ravages. Upon a limited scale, as on plants growing in 

 our gardens, may be tried the effect of sprinkling them with 

 alkaline solutions, such as strong soap-suds, or potash-water, 

 or with decoctions of tobacco and of walnut-leaves, or of 

 dusting the plants with air-slacked lime or sulphur. But in 

 field husbandry such applications would be impracticable. I 

 am inclined to believe that nothing will prove so effectual as 

 thorough irrigation, or copious and frequent showers of rain, 

 which will bring forward the plants with such rapidity, that 

 they will soon become so strong and vigorous as to withstand 

 the attacks of these little bugs. The great increase of these 



