THE SO-CALLED " CURLEW BUG." 



59 



plant. Quite in accord with the foregoing, Mr. J. G. Sanders reared 

 adults March 30, and again April 25, 1908, from Cyperus exaltatus, 

 introduced from Egypt and growing on the department farm at 

 Arlington, Va. 



The cultivated food plants are corn, rice, and peanuts, in impor- 

 tance according to the order given. 



DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 



THE EGG. 



(Fig. 18.) 



The egg appears to have been first observed by Mr. A. N. Caudell, 

 W T ho noted the female ovipositing at Stillwater, Okla., July 18, 

 1895. The egg was described as white, 1.5 mm. long and half as 

 wide, oblong-oval in shape. Mr. E. O. G. Kelly, who studied the 

 species carefully at Wellington, 

 Kans., found eggs deposited June 

 17, 1911, to be "white/' 1.5 mm. 

 long, one-third as wide, and ellip- 

 tical in form. 



Dr. Chittenden described the egg 

 as found at Arlington, Va., as con- 

 siderably larger, measuring 2.2 to 

 2.3 mm. in length and only 0.8 to 

 0.9 mm. in diameter. The outline 

 is subreniform-elliptical, one side 

 having a tendency to straightness 

 along the greater portion of its 

 length. The color is dull, slightly 

 yellowish white. The surface is 

 nearly smooth, with faint reticula- 

 tion showing in very limited areas. 

 The variation in size of the egg has 

 also been observed by Mr. ~R. I. 

 Smith, in North Carolina. 



Mr. Kelly, in his studies, found eggs from June 16 to September 11, 

 a period of nearly 3 months. The egg period varied from 4 to 6 days 

 in June, in July 5, and from 6 to 8 days in September. In one case 

 58 eggs were secured from one female, and there was a possibility 

 that she might exceed this number. 



Mr. Vernon King and the author found ovipositing adults and 

 half -grown larvae on Harveys Neck, about 15 miles southeast of 

 Hertford, N. C, on June 20, 1911. This would indicate that ovi- 

 position was in progress about June 1. Mr. Jas. A. Hyslop, of this 

 bureau, and Mr. R. I. Smith of the North Carolina Agricultural 



Fig. 18.— The "curlew bug": Egg as placed in 

 stem of young corn plant. Greatly enlarged. 

 (Original.) 



