

THE CHINCH-BUG FAMILY 



(Family Lygceida.) 



This is one of the large families of plant bugs, comprising 

 rather more than 1,300 species, distributed in thirteen subfamilies 

 and 208 genera. Of these about 175 species are known in the 

 United States. No good popular name has been proposed for 

 this group. Comstock calls it the " chinch-bug family " from its 

 most famous representative, but of course this is not a distinctive 

 name. The Lygaeids are distinguished from other bugs chiefly 

 by the membrane of the front wing, which has four or five 

 simple veins, and by the antennae, which are inserted low down 



on the side of the head. Many of 

 these bugs, when full grown, have the 

 wings either long or aborted, so that 

 in the same species there are both long- 

 winged and short-winged forms. All 

 live on the juices of plants, and the 

 family contains many injurious forms. 

 The most prominent of these is the 

 chinch-bug (Blissus leucopterus ), a 

 little bug which occurs in Central 

 America and the West Indies and all 

 over the United States and north into 

 Canada. It feeds on Indian corn and 

 on wheat and other small grains and 

 grasses, puncturing the stalks, and 

 causing them to wilt. Its great noto- 

 riety as a crop destroyer arises from 

 the incalculable numbers in which it appears in dry seasons. 

 The average annual loss which this insect causes to the United 

 States cannot be less than $20,000,000. 



Another very common and destructive insect belonging 

 to this family is the so-called "false chinch-bug" 



310 



Fig. 202. Myodocha serripes 

 Oliv. (After Lugger.) 



