434 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



P. politus Uhler. 



Uhler, Hemip. Colo., 52, 1895. 



Male: Length 3.5 mm., width 1.3 mm.; ovate, shining black, 

 femora dark fuscous to black, apices pale; rostrum slightly sur- 

 passing hind coxae, yellowish on middle; antennae black, tip of 

 segment i pale, iii and iv pale or only tinged with fuscous ; tibiae 

 pale or yellowish, knees, and spines with spots at base, black ; 

 clothed with simple, pale or white pubescence. 



Female: Length 3.8 mm., width 1.6 mm. ; very similar to the 

 male but more robust. 



Food plants: Ragweed {Ambrosia sps.) ; occurs on various 

 weeds ; reared from apple where the nymphs fed on the tender 

 foliage. 



The original description for P. fuscosus (Provancher, 1872) 

 agrees, in so far as it goes, with politus Uhler, except that the size 

 is indicated slightly too large. Provancher states that the species 

 is "commun sur les plantes" which is more evidence that the form 

 he described probably refers to politus Uhler. The present writer 

 has found no other species which agrees so well with the color 

 characters given for fuscosus, and at the same time it may be added 

 that politus is found very commonly on several plants. Provan- 

 cher's redescription for fuscosus (1887) cannot apply to the origi- 

 nally described species, and that reference is very properly cited 

 by Van Duzee (1912) as a misidentification of ob scams Uhler. 



Cornwall, 5 July, 1919 (B. H. W.) ; Hamden, 17 July, 1920 (M. P. Z.) ; 

 New Canaan, 17 Sept., 1918 (B. H. W.) ; New Haven, 7 July, 1920 

 (B. H. W.) ; Westport, 24 June, 1921 (W. E. B.). 



*P. politus var. flaveolus Knight, new variety. 



Apparently not differing structurally from the typical politus but 

 having a different color aspect. 



Black ; scutellum largely, base and apex of embolium, base of 

 corium slightly, narrowly bordering claval suture, basal half of 

 cuneus, and more or less broadly on middle of femora, somewhat 

 pale or yellowish. 



This form appears late in the season, no doubt belonging to the 

 second brood of politus, breeding on Solidago and related 

 herbaceous plants. 



Holotype: Male, 1 Sept., 1915, Batavia, N. Y. (H. H. Knight) ; author's 

 collection. Paratypes : Connecticut — Female, Aug., 1910, East River 

 (C. R. Ely). Female, 16 Oct., 1903, New Haven (H. L. Viereck). Illi- 

 nois — Female, 30 Aug., 1899, Algonquin; Females (2), 13 Sept., 1909, 

 Urbana (C. A. Hart). Massachusetts — Male and female, 22 Aug., 

 female, 27 Aug., males (4) and females (4), 31 Aug., 1914, females (2), 

 Sept., 1915, Beach Bluff (H. M. Parshley). Female, 17 June, 1914, Boston; 

 females (2), 21 Sept., 1914, Cohasset (H. M. Parshley). Female, 15 Aug., 

 1914, Farmington (C. A. Frost), at light. Female, 19 Sept., 1914, males 

 and females, 14 Sept., males (2), 30 Sept., female, 4 Oct., 1915, Forest 

 Hills; male and female, 13 Aug., 1918, Northampton; males (2) and 

 females (2), 2 Sept., 1915, female, 5 Sept., female, 7 Sept., 1914, Saugus 



