4-H CLUB INSECT MANUAL 15 
but those most commonly seen are around the home. In our modern 
houses, heated the year round, all stages of the roach may be found at 
any time during the year. These insects are pests, not so much be- 
cause of the food they destroy as of the filth associated with them. 
Roaches have a habit of passing their feet and antennae through their 
mouths in cleaning themselves, so if stomach poisons are distributed in 
places frequented by roaches, they are taken in during the cleaning 
process. The roach shown here is Periplaneta americana. It is about 
11% inches long. 
Walking sticks.—Another insect that belongs in the order Orthop- 
tera very much resembles a small slender twig. Members of this 
group are called ee ee 
walking sticks, and —r—‘OOC—CFC _ 
our common species 
is Diapheromera 
femorata. They 
range in length 
from 25 to 4 inches, 
are often grayish in 
color, and frequent- 
ly feed on the foli- : 
age of trees and shrubs, but seldom become abundant enough to war- 
rant control measures. The eggs are simply dropped to the ground 
from where the insect is feeding. In some cases the eggs remain on the 
ground and do not hatch until the following spring. The young walk- 
ing sticks crawl to their food plants and complete their development. 
FIGURE 31.—Walking stick. 
HEMIPTERA (TRUE BUGS) 
The order Hemiptera comprises a large group of insects that vary 
considerably in general appearance. Many have a rather unpleasant 
odor, and one smaller group of this order is referred to in many 
localities as the stinkbugs. 
Stinkbugs.—True stinkbugs vary considerably in size and color, 
but all present the five-sided appearance with the small triangular 
area in the center of the back. The adults have four 
wings; the fore pair is half leathery and half clear 
wing, hence the name of the order Hemiptera, 
meaning half wings. The adults fly, but the 
nymphs are limited to crawling. The suggestion 
in the word “nymph” indicates that this insect, and 
all insects of the order Hemiptera, have incomplete 
life changes. The mouth parts are fitted for suck- 
ing. The stinkbug group feeds on a wide variety 
of plants. Some, that feed on insect pests, are 
beneficial. The insect pictured here, known as the 
southern green stinkbug (Wezara viridula) 1s about 
five-eighths of an inch long; it feeds on cotton and many vegetable 
crops. It hibernates as an adult in rubbish. It is often a serious pest 
and is very difficult to control, as it does not readily succumb to the 
usual contact insecticides. 
Harlequin bug.—In the Southern States cabbage and related crops 
are often severely damaged by a member of the order Hemiptera— 
a 
Figurp 32.—Stinkbug. 
