12 



BULLETIN 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



Fig. 12.— Map showing distribution of the Southern green plant-bug 

 in the United States. Shaded areas indicates probable distribution. 



In the United States (fig. 12) its range covers the extreme southern 

 portion, although at times it occurs outside this area. In the files of 

 the Bureau of Entomology there are records of its injurious occur- 

 rence in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 



Louisiana, and Texas. 

 This would indicate 

 that the species is 

 most numerous in the 

 southern portion of 

 the Cotton Belt. 



From what has 

 been observed in re- 

 gard to the distribu- 

 tion of this species, it 

 is evident that it is of 

 foreign origin and, like 

 many others of our 

 principal pests, was 

 introduced into this country many years ago. It is also obvious 

 that it would be impossible even to hazard a conjecture as to the 

 source from which it obtained a foothold in the southern United 

 States. 



REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 



The species was first described as Cimex viridulus by Linnaeus (1) 

 in 1758 from specimens from India and, according to Banks (6), it 

 has been described since then under several other names by various 

 authors. VanDuzee (5), Banks (6), and Barber (10) have mentioned 

 areas and localities where it occurs and Van Duzee (5) and Parshley 

 (11) have given characters by which it can be separated from closely 

 related species. 



Short notes regarding Nezara viridula were published in. Insect 

 Life in 1889 (2) and 1893 (3, 4). The notes' published in 1893 

 relate to specimens sent to Washington by correspondents in Plaque- 

 mines Parish, La., and Altoona, Fla. 



In 1910 Morrill (7) included a short account of the species in Bul- 

 letin 86 of the Bureau of Entomology. He mentioned the specios as 

 occurring on cotton, potato,: and turnip, in Florida, Louisiana, and 

 Texas, and gave figures of the light and dark types of nymphs in the 

 fifth instar. 



In 1912 Bueno (9) recorded the fuiding of the species in a green- 

 house in Brooklyn, N. Y., and stated that he believed it to have 

 been introduced from Europe or Florida, though he saw no reason 

 why it could not establish itself in the latitude of Brooklyn inasmuch 

 as it occurred in Germany and Russia. A short description was 

 included and a number of food plants listed. 



