\ 



23 



side of the head is more or less pale or bright olivaceous. The lateral 

 margin of the pronotiim is acutely carinated. The ground color of the 

 body above, Avhile usually a dull olive green, may have a slight 

 purplish tinge. Lateral margin of prothorax above and below and 

 the basal third to the basal tAvo-thirds of the costal margin of the 

 wing corium varies in color from didl yellowish to bright crimson; 

 among the specimens seen by the writer the brighter shades being 

 the more common. The tip of the scutellum corresponds in color 

 to that on the margin of the thorax. In some specimens tli«e legs 

 are entirely black, but in most specimens there is more or less green- 

 ish or olivaceous on the coxa?, trochanters, and bases of the femora. 

 The lateral margins of the abdominal segments above and below 

 -are colored like the margin of the thorax. The wing membranes are 

 fuscous. The venter is quite variable in color, sometimes almost 

 black, but more commonly olivaceous. One specimen at hand ex- 

 hibits distinct purplish spots at the base of the prothoracic legs, 

 another with a very large olivaceous venter has a pair of large light- 

 green spots, one on each side of the middle, on the venter of the sec- 

 ond, and a pair on the venter of the third abdominal segment. In all 

 specimens seen the stigmatse are paler than the surrounding area and 

 not black, as in Gimex rufomarginatus A. Kouch., which Van Duzee 

 places as a synonym of P. ligata. 



The length given by Say, equaling about 14 mm., is within a frac- 

 tion of a millimeter the average of ten specimens at hand, which 

 range from 13 to 14^ mm. The greatest Avidth of the prothorax in 

 the same lot varies from 6.75 to 7.50 mm., averaging about 7.25 mm. 



FOOD PLANTS. 



Besides Doctor Fitch's mention of P. ligata feeding on grape and 

 hemlock, which, as I have indicated in the footnote on page 20, prob- 

 ably refers- to another species, I am unable to find any reference in 

 scientific literature to the food plants of this insect. Specimens in 

 the collections of the Bureau of Entomology and of the National 

 Museum show it to have been taken on cotton at Abilene, Tex. ; Tla- 

 hualilo, Durango, Mexico; and San Pedro de la Colonia, Coahuila, 

 Mexico. ' Mr. John Conduit and others connected with the Tlahualilo 

 Agricultural Company believe the insect identical Avith one which 

 occurs in more or less abundance on mesquite trees, feeding princi- 

 pally on the bean. In confinement adults fed on stems of mesquite 

 leaves and also on the berry of the China tree {Melia sp.). Imma- 

 ture insects have fed, in confinement, on leaves of hackberry and on 

 fresh mesquite beans. It is probable that the species can subsist on 

 a large number of plants, but j^refers those with succulent stems or 

 fruits. In September, 1904, examinations were made of corn in 



