CHAPTER XVIII. 



T 



SUCKING INSECTS. 



HE distinguishing character with these insects is that they suck the 

 juice of plants. They are Hemiptera marked by the presence of 



the suctorial proboscis. For such 

 pests we must as a rule use special 

 remedies. 



Sucking insects include practi- 

 cally two large classes with inter- 

 mediates; there are the active Plant 

 Bugs which run about the plants 

 and suck any part that attracts 

 them; there are also the Scale 

 Insects and other " Plant Para- 

 sites ", which fix themselves down 

 and never move. The former may 

 leave no trace of their work, 

 simply inserting their proboscis 

 and feeding where they will ; the 

 latter are fixed and local. Between 

 the two are the plant lice, which 



FIG. 277. 

 The Sort/ hum Bag. (Magnified.) 



behave as the plant parasites but 

 share the mobility of the plant 

 bugs. This is a fundamental dis- 

 tinction when one regards the 

 insects from the economic point of 

 view, and entirely alters the charac- 

 ter of the treatment possible for 

 each form of disease. 



Plant Bugs. 



Among the occasional pests of 

 Indian crops, the plant bugs are 

 of common occurrence, doing in 

 the aggregate a considerable 

 amount of harm which very rarely 

 becomes apparent. These insects 

 live upon plants, sucking the juice 



FIG. 278. 

 The Painted Bug. (Magnified.) 



