REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



313 



nauk," and, after discussing the matter, be concludes: "I am inclined 

 to believe, after all, that Mr. Taylor's observations may have been 

 correct." (Italics ours.) Glover's other citation of the carnivorous 

 habits is even worse. He says: u The American Entomologist (I, 228) 

 reports it as destroying the eggs of other insects." What was actually 

 said in the American Entomologist is: "The mass of yellowish- white 

 eggs'deposited in close connection under the shriveled bark of such 

 pear twigs as were poisoned and killed by the punctures of the olive- 

 yellow bug (Capsns oblineatus Say) came duly to hand." Glover has 

 of course taken our remarks concerning the punctured twigs as refer- 

 ring to the eggs. There is no evidence that the Tarnished Plant-bug 

 is ever carnivorous. The following quoted passages are from our Sec- 

 ond Missouri Report : 



" Its puncture seems to have a peculiarly poisonous effect, on which 

 account, and from its great numbers, it often proves a really formidable 

 foe. It is especially hard on young pear and quince trees, causing the 

 tender leaves and young shoots and twigs to turn black, as though they 

 had been burned by fire. On old trees it is not so common, though it 

 frequently congregates on such as are in bearing, and causes the young- 

 fruit to wither and drop. I have passed through potato fields along 

 the Iron Mountain Railroad in May, and found almost every stalk 

 blighted and black from the thrusts of its poisonous beak, and it is not 

 at all surprising that this bug was some years ago actually accused of 

 being the cause of the dreadful potato-rot. 



"This bug is a very variable species, the males being generally much 

 darker than the females. The more common color of the dried cabinet 

 specimens is a dirty yellow, variegated as in the figure with black and 

 dark brown, and one of the most characteristic marks is a yellow V. 

 sometimes looking more like a T, or indicated by three simple dots on 

 the scutel (the little triangular piece on the middle of the back behind 

 the thorax). The color of the living specimens is much fresher, and fre- 

 quently inclines to olive-green. The thorax, which is finely punctured, 

 is always finely bordered and divided down the middle with yellow, and 

 each of the divisions contains two broader longitudinal yellow lines, 

 very frequently obsolete behind. The thighs always have two dark 

 bands, or rings, near their tips. 



"As soon as vegetation starts in the spring, the mature bugs which 

 winter over in all manner of sheltered places may be seen collecting on 

 the various plants which have been mentioned. Early in the morning 

 they may be found buried between the expanding leaves, and at this 

 time they are sluggish, and may be shaken down and destroyed ; but as 

 the sun gets warmer thuy become more active, and, when approached, 

 dodge from one side of the plant to the other, or else take wing and fly 

 away. They deposit their eggs and breed on the plants, and the young 

 and old bugs together may be noticed through most of the summer 

 mouths. The young bugs are perfectly green, but in other respects do 

 not differ from their parents except in lacking wings. They hide be- 

 tween the flower-petals, stems, and leaves of different plants, and are 

 not easily detected. Late in the fall none but full-grown and winged 

 bugs are to be met with, but whether one or two generations are pro- 

 duced during the season I have not fully ascertained, though in all 

 probability there are two."* 



Since this article was prepared, this bug has been detected in a new 

 habit that has proved quite serious to strawberry-growers in Southern 



'George F. Gaumer, in the Kansas Farmer of November 10, ltiTG, states definitely 

 that there are two broods in Kansas. 



