The Sycamore Lace-Bug 5 



mosa of California. The range of these two species is not alto- 

 gether definite and may extend beyond or overlap the limits shown 

 in the accompanying map. 



The under surface of the leaves serve exclusively as feeding 

 grounds and breeding places for the lace-bug, and while the adult 

 is capable of making short flights it stays rather close to the 

 leaves in its immediate vicinity, seldom leaving the tree unless 

 there are other trees adjoining very closely. They seem to pair 

 off, with a male and female found together on a leaf, although 

 several pairs, as many as three or four, may be seen on one leaf. 

 They are never found feeding on the upper surface of the leaves 

 and will not stay if placed there. No doubt they find the surface 

 underneath more easy to pierce and more succulent, together with 

 the protection of the large ribs and downy pubescence of the un- 

 der surface which attracts them. The immature bug moving 

 about on the leaf with a mass of this fuzz or pubescence attached 

 to the spines of its back, presents a striking and grotesque appear- 

 ance.. The adults, as well as the young, are capable of doing se- 

 vere injury to the foliage by sucking the sap and leaving the fo- 

 liage in a whitish, deadened state. The nymphs (immature 

 forms) upon hatching, stay in groups and move about over the 

 leaf, keeping very close together. They seldom leave the leaf 

 upon which they hatch until the fourth stage is reached, when 

 they begin moving about more freely and are inclined to separate 

 into smaller groups or go about singly. 



Hibernation 



The sycamore lace-bug, as is common with all members of the 

 Tingid family, the writer has observed, hibernates in the adult 

 form, usually under the loose, rougher bark of the host tree, or it 

 may sometimes be found in the cracks and crevices of fences, 

 buildings, etc., near or under the sycamore tree. In Central Ohio 

 they may be found going into their winter quarters about the mid- 

 dle of October; in Oklahoma the time is somewhat later, about a 

 month. While there are still immature forms on the leaves in all 

 stages, some of these successfully arrive at the adult stage and go 

 into hibernation, but the majority are cut off with the first real 

 cold and frost before they mature. No immature forms succeed 

 in passing the winter, and seem never to seek a place of shelter in 

 the late fall. The adults are able to withstand pretty severe cold, 

 being able to weather a temperature as low as 10 below zero, al- 

 though many of them, not favorably protected, succumb to the 

 rigors of winter. In a particularly severe winter, as was experi- 

 enced in Ohio the past year (1916-17), 50% or less are able to 

 survive till warm weather. The writer collected some 300 indi- 

 viduals on the 15th of October, 1916, put them in salve boxes and 

 placed them outdoors in a well protected place under an old crock. 



