UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 689 |M; 



JTU^^^-Ti. 



Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology 

 L. O. HOWARD, Chief 



^"u^'^'«-rt. 



Washington, D. C. 



FROrESSIONAL PAPER. 



July 30, 1918 



THE SOUTHERN GREEN PLANT-BUG. 



By Thos. H. Jones, 

 Entomological Assistant, Truck-Crop Insect Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1 



Nature of damage 1 



Description of stages 3 



Distribution 11 



Review of literature 12 



Unpublished records 13 



Food plants 14 



Seasonal history and habits 14 



Number of generations annually 21 



Natural enemies 21 



Climate as a control factor 23 



Methods of artificial contrcl 23 



General summary 25 



Literature cited 26 



INTRODUCTION. 



In tlie extreme soutliern portion of the United States, particu- 

 larly in those States bordering the Gulf of Mexico, a large pentatomid 

 bug, Nezara viridula L., is a serious pest on cultivated plants. 

 Important vegetable and truck crops are subject to injury and it is 

 as an enemy of such crops that the species is considered in this 

 article. The investigations upon which the article is based have 

 been carried on principal!}' at Baton Rouge, La.' 



Nezara viridula is here given the name of ''the Southern green 



plant-bug." The word ''Southern" is proposed to distinguish the 



species from the closely related Nezara Mlaris Say. While the 



latter is also a pest on cultivated plants, and approaches viridula in 



color, its range extends farther north in the L'nited States than does 



that of viridula. 



NATURE OF DAMAGE. 



Both adults and nymphs feed b}' inserting their beaks into the 

 plant tissue and extracting the plant juices, minute spots marking 

 the points where the beak has punctured. The growing shoots of 

 plants, and especially developing fruit, are preferred as feeding 



1 The writer wishes to acknowledge the cooperation, in this investigation, of Messrs. C. E. Smith and 

 J. L. E. Lauderdale, while members of the Bureau of Entomology. The drawings of figures 4, 5,9, 12, and 

 13 and the photographs (figs. 1-3 and 6-8) have been prepared by Mr. W. M. Dovener of the Bureau of 

 Entomology. 



55050°— 18— Bull. 689 1 



