The Meadow Plant Bug. 



Introduction 



This species presents a number of interesting- problems, 

 biologic as well as economic, and considering its great abun- 

 dance over a large area of the eastern United States and Can- 

 ada during the past forty years it seems strange that it has 

 not received more careful investigation. 



My own attention was attracted by its appearance in im- 

 mense numbers in northern Ohio at about the time of my re- 

 moval to that state in 1898. It was entirely unknown to me 

 from previous field collecting and specimens I had seen were 

 collected in western New York by Mr. E. P. Van Du^ee about 

 the year 1888. 



My attention was again forcibly attracted to the species by 

 the great abundance in Maine in 1914 when they were encoun- 

 tered in my studies of the meadow leafhoppers. A reference 

 to the literature indicated almost total neglect of the species 

 in this country and almost nothing concerning its economic 

 importance was found. It seemed therefore well worth a spec- 

 ial study and I was gratified to be able to arrange with the 

 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station to undertake a sum- 

 mer's study of the species at Orono. 



As an old-world species the insect has evidently been fam- 

 iliar since it was described by Linne (1758) and has had fre- 

 quent mention by later writers who have treated it simply from 

 the systematic standpoint. Wolff (1802) indeed gives a recog- 

 nizable figure of the nymph in one of the later instars also a 

 rough sketch of the egg but so far as noted no detailed study 

 of life-history, habits or economic status has been made even 

 in the regions where it has been longest known. 



Description 



No very satisfactory description of the species is available 

 in the accessible text books or manuals. The adults are about 

 two-fifths of an inch long, (9 mm.) rather slender, with long 

 black antennae which are thickest at the base, the head rounded, 

 set fairly close to the thorax which widens behind and the wings 

 lie nearly flat on the back are narrow and have nearly parallel 

 sides, extend to or slightly beyond the tip of the abdomen in 

 the males and long-winged females and to the fifth abdominal 



