13 



They commonly feed on the foHage of potatoes, beets, beans, 

 peas, carrots, tomatoes, other vegetables and ornamental 

 plants. When abundant they ravenously eat everything in 

 their path. 



Control. — Lead arsenate (see page 4) applied at the be- 

 ginning of the attack is recommended. 



Plant Bugs. 



The tarnished plant bug, Lygus pratensis L., and the four- 

 lined leaf bug, Poecilocapsus lineatus Fab., are very general 

 feeders, attacking almost all kinds of garden crops, small fruits, 

 tender shoots of fruit trees, many flowering plants and most of 

 our common weeds. The tarnished plant bug is abolit one- 

 fifth of an inch in length, light brown in color, with black and 

 yellowish markings, while the four-lined leaf bug is one-quarter 

 of an inch in length, bright greenish yellow in color, with two 

 black spots on the thorax and four stripes of the same color 

 down the back. These insects injure plants by inserting their 

 beaks in the tissues and withdrawing the sap. On many plants 

 a small black spot appears where the insect has been feeding, 

 and this causes a deformation of the part attacked, or tends 

 to "blight" the tip shoots in the case of potatoes, dahlias and 

 similar plants. 



Control. — The tarnished plant bug and four-lined leaf bug 

 have been found very difficult to control, owing to their wide 

 range of food plants and to the fact that a large part of the 

 injury is done by the adults, which are so shy and active that 

 it is difficult to hit them with a spray. ]Much may be done, 

 however, to lessen their numbers by keeping down all weeds in 

 and around the garden. The young may be killed by spraying 

 with nicotine sulphate, one-half pint in 50 gallons of water or 

 1^ teaspoonfuls in 1 gallon of water, with the addition of soap 

 to increase its spreading qualities; but this treatment is not 

 effective against the adults. Where the adults are abundant 

 they may be collected in considerable numbers by sweeping 

 the foliage in early morning with a strong insect net and then 

 dropping the insects into kerosene. 



