482 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



often blasted." Slingerland gives a list of some fifty-seven food- 

 plants, including all sorts of crops, ornamental plants and weeds. 

 Parsnip, mint, sage, rose, deutzia, dahlia, and others are often 

 badly injured. The species has been observed from Canada to 

 Georgia and westward to the Dakotas, so that it is probably 

 generally distributed east of the Rockies. 



Life History. The nymphs hatch from the overwintering eggs 

 in late May and early June and are very largely responsible 

 for the injury to the foliage. The newly hatched nymph is only 



a b 



FIG. 346. The four-lined leaf -bug (Poecilocapsus lineaius Fab.): a, adult; 

 b, cross-section of stem showing eggs in position and a single egg greatly 

 enlarged. (After Slingerland.) 



about one-twentieth inch long, but is easily recognized by the 

 shining vermilion-red color of the body, marked with large blackish 

 spots on the thorax and with greenish-black antenna? and legs. 

 The nymphs grow rapidly, becoming full grown in seventeen to 

 twenty days after hatching, during w r hich time they have molted 

 five times. The full-grown nymph is about one-fifth inch long, 

 bright orange yellow, and the black wing-pads extend half way 

 to the end of the abdomen and bear a yellowish green stripe near 

 the outer margin. The nymphs feed on the tenderest young 

 leaves, sucking out the juices and soft tissue through their tiny 



