FAMILIES COREID.E AND SCUTELLERID.C. 171 



Wfl have many species belonging to this family. Proliably no one, who has ever been 

 engaged in gathering our small fruits, but has observed these narrow or rather elongated 

 bugs, some of them ornamented very elaborately with bright colors, as for instance the 

 red and yellow that border their elytra and superior surface. 



Genus COKEUS. 



' Antennae four-jointed : second and third longest ; the fourth rather enlarged or thickened, 

 and shorter than the second or third. Sides of the thorax not dilated ' ( Westwood). 



Coreus tristis. Squashbug. ( Plate vii, fig. 1.) 



Color dark brown, rusty brown, yellowish beneath : head marked with a red line ex- 

 tending to the front of the thorax ; two others, parallel with the former, pass by the 

 side of the eyes. Thorax roughened with elevated black points, concealing the red 

 ground beneath : lateral edges also reddish ; posterior angles rounded, and base 

 broadly grooved transversely. Membranous part of the hemelytra black, and showing 

 numerous longitudinal nervures. Beneath rusty ochre-yellow, and each segment of 

 the abdomen marked with a row of black points near the outer edge, and a parallel 

 row of small black spots, the latter rather obscure. 

 The squashbug is a common insect in gardens and fields, and is found not only on squash 

 leaves, but upon those of the pumpkin also. It is injurious by inflicting numerous punc- 

 tures upon the leaves, which cause them to wither and dry, and, if the plant is feeble, will 

 destroy it. The first remedy for the effects of minute wounds of this kind, is to cultivate 

 highly, so as to impart to the plant sufficient health and vigor to resist injuries by a rapid 

 growth. If this does not answer, it will be necessary to find the insects and destroy them 

 under foot, before their eggs are deposited for the new brood. The eggs are laid about the 

 last of June, by the insects that have survived the winter. During the summer, it will 

 frequently happen that the young appear at different times, and they may be found col- 

 lected together in little groups. 



Scutelleridae. 



This family is perhaps better known through some of its species than others. The dis- 

 agreeable smelling bugs that frequent berry bushes and strawberry vines belong here. 

 They are depressed and of an oval form, and are furnished with a very large scutellum. 

 The rostrum is composed of four joints, instead of three ; and the antenna sometimes has 

 five joints, but not always. Two ocelli are always present, and the tarsus is thrte-jointed. 

 Of this family, the Genus Pentatoma is one of the most common, and feeds upun the 

 juices of plants ( Plate vii, fig. 2 ). Sometimes it has only to pass over a fruit, to impart to 

 it its offensive odor. 



