107 



velopment on the highest part of that tall plant, owing probably 

 to the blowing of fine sharp sand through lower part of plants. 

 Description of different stages from Kiley's Seventh Eeport. A 

 variety of the species having slender, pointed wing-pads and pe- 

 culiar colored antennae is mentioned as collected on sea-shore only. 

 Two-brooded above the latitude of St. Louis, but unquestionably 

 L a third generation (hibernating probably in adult condition) in 

 r North Carolina, and some evidence of such a one in Southern 

 Illinois and Kentucky. Hedges mentioned as affording exception- 

 ally good hibernating places, and their gradual removal recom- 

 mended. Insects fly in spring and fall, at the latter time impelled 

 by hunger. Habits described at length. Mention made of 3,025 

 bugs' being counted on a single root of Hungarian grass dug up 

 in Iowa, displacing about four cubic inches of earth. The state- 

 ments which have gained currency concerning the laying of eggs 

 in autumn and their hatching the following spring, are said to be 

 erroneous, at least for the West and North. Beside the usual 

 enumeration of insect enemies, an observation by Mr. F. M. Web- 

 ster is recorded, which seems to indicate that a species of Mermis 

 ("hair-snakes") may be found to infest the chinch bug. Obser- 

 vations of Mr. Bruner and stomach dissections by Prof. Forbes, 

 seem to indicate that lady-birds have been overestimated as 

 <:hinch-bug destroyers. Among vertebrate enemies the common 

 frog is mentioned, and several birds, including the quail, 

 which it is said should be better guarded by game laws, or, 

 as in Colorado and Dakota, protected altogether for a series of 

 years. A list is given showing the months in which shooting of 

 quails is permitted in States which suffer most from chinch bug. 

 Concerning diseases. Dr. Shimer's contribution to tlie subject is 

 •quoted in part; a short summary from Prof. Forbes's Twelfth Ee- 

 port is given; Prof. Riley's doubt of the practicability of artificially 

 producing these diseases to any successful extent is noted, as 

 also Prof. Forbes's statement that this proposed remedy is still a theo- 

 retical one only. The influence of wet weather on the chinch 

 bug is considered at length, the great preponderance of opinion 

 being, it is said, that it is unfavorable, though in just what way 

 is a disputed point. Quotations are given from Walsh, Thomas, 

 Eiley, and Forbes, and two meteorological tables are given; the one 

 furnished by Prof. Atkinson bearing upon the influence of tem- 

 perature and rainfall on chinch bugs in North Carolina in '85, '86, 

 and '87, and that furnished by the Chief Signal Oflicer showing 

 the precipitation in chinch-bug States for the same years. The 

 opinion is expressed that 1888 will not be a chinch-bug year. Under 

 "Eemedies and Preventives" there is a recapitulation of matter 

 -contained in Eiley's Seventh Eeport and Thomas's Bulletin No. 5 

 of the U. S. Entomological Commission; Prof. Osborn's experi- 

 ments in burning and with kerosene emulsions are given; and ref- 

 erence is made to experiments by Prof. Forbes with the kerosene 

 -emulsion, as reported to the Entomological Division and published 

 in its Bulletin No. 2 (1883), and the emulsions, as diluted, are 



