﻿PACKARD.] 
  THE 
  CHINCH-BUG. 
  697 
  

  

  The 
  larva 
  or 
  maggot 
  when 
  first 
  hatched 
  is 
  pale 
  reddish, 
  afterward 
  becomiug 
  white. 
  

   It 
  is 
  wheu 
  mature 
  0.15 
  inch 
  in 
  length, 
  oval 
  cylindrical, 
  pointed 
  at 
  one 
  end, 
  and 
  is 
  soft, 
  

   shining 
  white. 
  

  

  Fly: 
  Black 
  with 
  pale-brown 
  legs 
  and 
  black 
  feet 
  and 
  a 
  tawny 
  abdomen; 
  the 
  egg- 
  

   tube 
  of 
  the 
  female 
  rose-colored, 
  wiugs 
  blackish, 
  tawny 
  at 
  base 
  ; 
  fringed 
  with 
  short 
  

   hairs 
  and 
  rounded 
  at 
  tip. 
  The 
  body 
  is 
  about 
  a 
  tenth 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  length, 
  and 
  the 
  

   wings 
  expand 
  one-quarter 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  or 
  more. 
  The 
  antennae 
  of 
  the 
  male 
  have 
  the 
  

   joints 
  roundish 
  oval 
  and 
  verticillate. 
  

  

  Remedies. 
  — 
  Besides 
  the 
  parasites 
  of 
  this 
  insect, 
  its 
  natural 
  enemies, 
  

   large 
  numbers 
  probably 
  fall 
  a 
  prey 
  to 
  roving 
  carnivorous 
  insects 
  and 
  

   birds, 
  particularly 
  swallows 
  and 
  martins. 
  As, 
  however, 
  the 
  insect 
  re- 
  

   mains 
  in 
  the 
  "flaxseed" 
  state 
  in 
  the 
  straw 
  and 
  stubble, 
  the 
  obvious 
  

   remedy 
  is 
  to 
  burn 
  over 
  wheat-fields 
  for 
  several 
  years 
  in 
  succession. 
  

   The 
  rotation 
  of 
  crops 
  is 
  also 
  a 
  valuable 
  preventive 
  measure. 
  

  

  The 
  Chinoh-Bug-, 
  Blissus 
  leucoj^terus 
  of 
  Uhler, 
  Lygccus 
  leucopterus 
  

   of 
  Say. 
  

  

  A 
  small 
  bug, 
  while 
  young 
  sucking 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  wheat 
  and 
  corn, 
  afterward 
  infesting 
  

   in 
  great 
  numbers 
  the 
  stalk 
  and 
  leaves, 
  puncturing 
  them 
  with 
  their 
  beaks. 
  It 
  appears 
  

   early 
  in 
  Juue, 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  summer 
  and 
  autumn 
  brood, 
  the 
  adults 
  hyberuating 
  in 
  

   the 
  stubble. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  formidable 
  enemy 
  of 
  wheat 
  and 
  corn, 
  much 
  more 
  

   damage 
  having 
  been 
  done 
  to 
  grain-crops 
  in 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Valley 
  and 
  

   the 
  Southern 
  States 
  than 
  from 
  any 
  other 
  cause, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  

   abundant 
  each 
  year. 
  It 
  is 
  very 
  abundant 
  in 
  Kansas, 
  Nebraska, 
  and 
  

   California, 
  according 
  to 
  Uhler. 
  ' 
  Dr. 
  Shimer 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  female 
  is 
  

   " 
  occupied 
  about 
  twenty 
  days 
  in 
  laying 
  her 
  eggs, 
  about 
  500 
  in 
  number. 
  

   The 
  larva 
  hatches 
  in 
  fifteen 
  days, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  broods 
  in 
  a 
  season, 
  

   the 
  first 
  brood 
  maturing, 
  in 
  Illinois, 
  from 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  July 
  to 
  the 
  

   middle 
  of 
  August, 
  and 
  the 
  second 
  late 
  in 
  autumn." 
  According 
  to 
  Har- 
  

   ris, 
  the 
  "eggs 
  of 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  are 
  laid 
  in 
  the 
  ground, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

   young 
  have 
  been 
  found, 
  in 
  great 
  abundance, 
  at 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  or 
  

   more. 
  They 
  make 
  their 
  appearance 
  on 
  wheat 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  June, 
  

   and 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  their 
  various 
  stages 
  of 
  growth 
  on 
  all 
  kinds 
  of 
  grain, 
  

   on 
  corn, 
  and 
  on 
  herds-grass, 
  during 
  the 
  whole 
  summer. 
  Some 
  of 
  them 
  

   continue 
  alive 
  through 
  the 
  winter 
  in 
  their 
  places 
  of 
  concealment." 
  This 
  

   species 
  is 
  widely 
  diffused. 
  I 
  have 
  taken 
  it 
  frequently 
  in 
  Maine, 
  and 
  

   even 
  on 
  the 
  extreme 
  summit 
  of 
  Mount 
  Washington 
  in 
  August, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  

   more 
  properly 
  a 
  southern 
  and 
  western 
  insect. 
  It 
  has 
  not 
  attracted 
  

   notice 
  on 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast, 
  as 
  M. 
  H. 
  Edwards 
  writes 
  me 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  

   yet 
  appeared 
  in 
  California. 
  But 
  as 
  Mr. 
  Uhler 
  records 
  it 
  from 
  Califor- 
  

   nia, 
  it 
  probably 
  occurs 
  there 
  only 
  rarely. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Shimer 
  in 
  his 
  Notes 
  on 
  the 
  Chinch-Bug 
  says 
  that 
  it 
  "attained 
  the 
  

   maximum 
  of 
  its 
  development 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1864, 
  in 
  the 
  extensive 
  

   wheat 
  and 
  corn 
  fields 
  of 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  and 
  in 
  that 
  single 
  

   year 
  three-fourths 
  of 
  the 
  wheat 
  and 
  one-half 
  of 
  the 
  corn 
  crop 
  were 
  

   destroyed 
  throughout 
  many 
  extensive 
  districts, 
  comprising 
  almost 
  the 
  

   entire 
  Northwest, 
  with 
  an 
  estimated 
  loss 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  $100,000,000 
  in 
  

   the 
  currency 
  that 
  then 
  prevailed," 
  while 
  Mr. 
  Walsh 
  estimates 
  the 
  loss 
  

   from 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  this 
  insect 
  in 
  Illinois 
  alone, 
  in 
  1850, 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   $1,000,000. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1865, 
  the 
  progeny 
  of 
  the 
  broods 
  of 
  the 
  preceding 
  

   year 
  were 
  almost 
  entirely 
  swept 
  off 
  by 
  an 
  epidemic 
  disease, 
  so 
  few 
  being 
  

   left 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  22d 
  of 
  August 
  Dr. 
  Shimer 
  found 
  it 
  " 
  almost 
  impossible 
  

   to 
  find 
  even 
  a 
  few 
  cabinet 
  specimens 
  of 
  chinch-bugs 
  alive" 
  where 
  they 
  

   were 
  so 
  abundant 
  the 
  year 
  before. 
  " 
  During 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1866 
  the 
  

   chinch-bugs 
  were 
  very 
  scarce 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  early 
  spring, 
  and 
  up 
  to 
  near 
  the 
  

  

  