MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS 



405 



is about twice as large, and similarly colored, except that there are 

 two pairs of dark spots on the thorax and one on the middle of the 

 third abdominal segment, which grow more distinct in the last two 

 stages. With the third stage the small wing pads become visible 

 and in the fourth stage they extend halfway down the abdomen. 



Life History. The adults hibernate over winter under any 

 shelter available, such as the trash on affected fields, under 

 leaves, boards, stones, etc., and emerge in early spring. The 

 eggs are laid in Missouri in April. But little is known of the 



FIG. 293. The tarnished plant-bug (Lygus pratensis Linn.): a, b,c,d, four 

 stages of nymphs; e, adult bug all about four times natural size. (After 

 Forbes and Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



places of oviposition, except that Taylor * has shown that 

 sometimes apples are severely dimpled by the egg punctures. 

 It is evident, therefore, that the eggs are inserted in the stems 

 or leaves of the food-plants. The pale yellow egg is about 

 one-thirtieth inch long, oval, elongate, and flared at the 

 outer end, so as to be somewhat bottle-shaped. The first genera- 

 tion becomes full grown in about a month, after which all stages 

 * See E. P. Taylor, Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. I, p. 370. 



