I2O 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY 



oranges. The family is a small one of relatively large, bright-colored 

 bugs, with few species in the North. The stilt-bugs (Berytidae) 

 are well named from their long, stiltlike legs. They resemble the 

 thread-legged bugs in this respect, but are much smaller, being 



only about one third of 

 an inch long. Only two 

 species are known in the 

 United States ; these fre- 

 quent the undergrowth 

 of woodland and pas- 

 tures. The chinch-bug 

 is the best-known exam- 

 ple of one of the larg- 

 est families (Lygaeidae\ 

 with nearly two hundred 

 species in this country. The chinch-bug is about one sixth of an 

 inch long, of a jet-black color, with the fore-wings white with a 

 distinct triangular black spot at the middle of the outer margin. 



FIG. 162. The false chinch-bug (NyshtsencaeSchtil.) 

 (Much enlarged) 



a, injured leaf ; <5, last stage of nymph ; c, adult. 

 (After Riley) 



FIG. 163. a, the northern leaf-footed plant-bug (Leptoglosstis oppositus}; b, the 

 banded leaf -footed plant-bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus). (Twice natural size) 



(After Chittenden, United States Department of Agriculture) 



The young stages are red but become gray or blackish as they 

 grow older. It is found in all parts of the United States, but has 

 been most seriously injurious in the Mississippi Valley. 



