The Stink-Bugs and Their Allies 



color growing darker up to the hatching period. They are nearly 

 circular in shape, and are furnished with a well-defined circular 

 cap. The upper part of the egg is covered by irregular rows of 

 minute short spines, while around the edge of the cap is a row of 

 long, curved, knobbed spines. They hatch in eight days, and 

 the insect passes through five molts, growing gradually, and 



Fig. 211. Stiretrus anchorage. (After Chittenden.) 



changing in color from yellowish-red to brownish-yellow. There ( 

 are three generations in the course of the summer, and the insect 

 hibernates in the adult condition under the rough bark of trees, 

 and in similar protected situations. When young they feed upon 

 very small insects and their eggs, but when full-grown will at- 

 tack any insect however large, even full-grown cutworms and, 

 the larvae of the Gypsy moth. 



Mr. A. H. Kirkland was the first observer to work out the 

 complete life history, and from his full account as published in 

 the report of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture on the 

 Gypsy moth (1896) these facts have been drawn. 



