THE LITTLE-LINED PLANT-BUG. 201 



or two little veins ; the legs are slender, and the shanks are 

 bristled with little points. There are, in Massachusetts, a 

 good many species belonging to this genus ; but, in my Cata- 

 logue of the insects of this Commonwealth, they are included 

 among the species of Oapsus, which, indeed, they closely re- 

 semble. 



The Phytocoris lineolaris (Fig. 85), or little- : 



lined plant-bug, measures one fifth of an inch, 

 or rather more, in length. It is an exceed- 

 ingly variable species. The males are gen- 

 erally much darker than the females, being 

 very deep livid brown or almost black above. The head 

 is yellowish, with three narrow longitudinal reddish stripes ; 

 the first joint of the antennas, the terminal half of the sec- 

 ond, and the last two joints are blackish ; the beak is more 

 than one third the whole length of the body, when folded 

 beneath the breast, extends to the middle pair of legs, and 

 is of a yellowish color, ringed with black ; the thorax, or that 

 part of the body that comes immediately behind the head, is 

 thickly covered with punctures, has a yellow margin, and five 

 longitudinal yellow lines upon it, which often disappear on the 

 back part ; the scutel, or escutcheon, a small triangular piece 

 behind the thorax, and interposed between the bases of the 

 wing-covers, is also margined with yellow, and has a yellow 

 spot upon it in the form of the letter V, which is often imper- 

 fect, so that only three small yellow spots are visible in the 

 place of the three extremities of the letter ; the thick part of 

 the wing-covers is brown, with the outer edge and the longi- 

 tudinal veins sometimes pale or yellowish, and behind this 

 thick part there is a large yellowish spot, on the posterior tip 

 of which is a small black point ; the thin or membranous part 

 of the wing-covers is shaded with dusky clouds ; the under 

 side of the body is marked with a yellowish line or a longitu- 

 dinal series of yellow spots on each side of the middle ; the 

 legs are dirty brownish yellow, the thighs blackish at base, 

 and with two black rings near the tip, and the extremities of 

 26 



