THE THICK-THIGHED METAPODIUS. 167 



La., says: "The chinch-bug known to be one of its enemies;" and. J. 

 P. Krancher states that " several varieties of field bugs are known to 

 attack it." 



THE GREEN SOLDIEK-BUG- (Rapliigast&r [Nezara] Mlaris, [Pennsylva- 

 nicus, of Fitch.] ). 



This insect was figured by Mr. Glover in his report on Cotton Insects 

 (Kept, Dept, of Agri., 1855, PI. VIII, Fig. 5, p. 93), and in 

 the text spoken of as- piercing cotton-bolls and sucking 

 the sap. Mr. Bailey, of Monticello, Fla., is given as au- 

 thority for the statement. It was said to be very abun- 

 dant in the cotton fields. 



Concerning its killing the cotton- worm, Professor Wil- 

 let in a recent letter to this department has the following: 



A -word about an enemy to the cotton-worm. At Montezuma, FIG. 13. -Raphi- 

 Macon County, Georgia, September 20, when collecting cotton- worms S aster nilaris - 

 (Aletla argillacea) for experiments, I saw one extended in the air horizontally from a 

 cotton leaf, holding on only by his two anal feet and contorting his body about as if 

 iu great pain. On examination, I found a plant bug had pierced him about the anus 

 and was quietly sucking his juices. I had no vial nor box, and could only drop them 

 in the basket with other Iarva3. The next morning I found the caterpillar dead ; but 

 the bug was not to bo found. I think from the hurried sight I got it is what Glover 

 calls the green Plant Bug, Plate VIII, Fig. 5. A gentleman living there told me he 

 saw another cotton-worm impaled in its side by a similar bug. 



It would, of course, be unsafe to accept the identity of the insects upon 

 such insufficient grounds, but it is probable that, if not the same, Mr. 

 Willet's insect was an allied species of Baphigaster. We have Mr. 

 Glover's authority that either Mlaris or a closely allied species is pre- 

 daceous upon the Colorado potato-beetle. It is probable also that the 

 same insect is meant by several of our correspondents, who enumerate 

 " green chinches " as among the enemies of the cotton- worm. A very 

 conscientious correspondent says, " I have seen a green chinch sucking 

 the juices of the cotton- worm ; cannot say that the worm was injured by 

 the act"! 



THE THICK-THIGHED METAPODIUS (AcantJiocepliala [Metapodius] fe- 

 morata, Fab., Rhinuchus nasulus of Say). Concerning the occurrence of 

 this insect in the cotton field, Mr. Glover said in 1855 : 



These insects, though somewhat numerous, were never observed to suck the sap 

 from the bolls, yet it would be well to investigate their habits more minutely before 

 deciding whether they are injurious or not. 



The following short account of the insect is from tie department re- 

 port for 1875, p. 129 : 



Acanthocepliala (Metapodius fcmorata), so called from its swollen, spiny thighs, is a 

 large reddish-brown or blackish insect, qxiite abundant in the southern cotton fields. 

 It is very slow in its motions, and appears to be fond of basking in the sun. The 

 thighs are strongly developed and spiny, especially on the under side, while the 

 shanks have broad thin plate or leaf-like projections on their sides, which gave these 

 insects a very peculiar appearance. The eggs are smooth, short, oval, and have been 

 found arranged in beads like a necklace oil the leaf of white pine. The full-grown 



