SOUTHERN" GREEN" PLANT-BUG. 



Fig. <6.— Nezara viridula: Portion of ventral surface 

 ofmesothorax and metathorax, showing the ori- 

 fice or osteolar canal. Coxse of legs of second 

 and third pairs at right. Greatly enlarged. 



COMPARISON WITH OTHER SPECIES OF NEZARA. 



Four species, namely, viridula L., pennsylvanica DeG., Mlaris Say, 

 and marginata P. B., usually have been considered as belonging to the 

 genus Nezara. 1 Whether considered of sufficient importance to be 

 a generic character, or only a spe- 

 cific one, the difference in the 

 shape of the orifice (osteolar canal) 

 is the most satisfactory character 

 for separating viridula from the 

 other species. In viridula (fig. 6) 

 the orifice is short, rather broad, 

 truncated at the apex, and does 

 not extend more than half way 

 to the lateral margin of the 

 metapleura. In the other three 

 species (see fig. 7) it is long 

 and curved, becoming grad- 

 ually evanescent, and extends 

 almost to the posterior lateral angle of the mesopleura. 2 



THE EGG. 



The egg (figs. 8 and 9) is cylindrical, rounded at the lower end and 

 flattened on top. On the top are the short, club-shaped chorial pro- 

 cesses arranged in a circle and at- 

 tached to the egg between the cap 

 and the outer edge by their smaller 

 ends. Their distal ends are bent 

 toward the center of the cap. The 

 writer has found the number of 

 chorial processes on an egg to range 

 from 28 to 32. Whitmarsh (13), 3 

 in his description of the stages of 

 Nezara Jiilaris, states that there are 

 as many as 65 of these processes on 

 the egg of that species. 



The surface of the egg is rough- 

 ened, with traces of hexagonal mark- 

 ings. A number of eggs that the 

 average height of 1.24 mm. and an 



Fig. 7. — Nfzarahilaris: Portion of ventral sur- 

 face ofmesothorax and metathorax, showing 

 the orifice or osteolar canal. Coxa) of legs of 

 second and third pairs at right. Greatly en- 

 larged. 



writer has measured gave an 

 average diameter of 0.85 mm. 



1 Some writers include viridula only under this genus, placing the other three species under the genus 

 Acrosternum of Fieber. 



2 Some authorities mention other characters by which viridula may be distinguished, but the writer, 

 finding some of these inconstant, considers it advisable to mention only the difference in the shape of the 

 orifice. 



3 Numbers in parentheses refer to "Literature cited," p. 26. 



