30 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
feed more upon the tender stems than upon the leaves of the 
plant. 
Near Iowa City, on May 22, 1915 great numbers of this species 
were swept from smart weed and other low weeds growing in an 
unplowed strip running through the middle of a field that had 
been plowed a short time before. The soil here was partly sandy 
and had been under cultivation the previous year. Hundreds 
of specimens could have been taken with the sweep net in a few 
minutes. 
At Osage the species was swept from tansy on August 12. In 
almost every locality visited it was taken from red clover and 
from fields grown up in red clover, timothy and blue grass. 
Uhler records it as sometimes being quite abundant ‘“‘in the axils 
of the leaves of a species of Eupatorium.’’ (Proce. Bost. Soe. 
Nat. Hist., XIX, 367, 1878). Often low pasture lands of blue 
grass and clover will yield quantities of these insects. 
J. L. Horsfall submits notes which indicate that nymphs of 
this species were very abundant on bearding wheat at Mus- 
catine about the middle of July, 1917. A few adults were also 
found at that time. The following is extracted from Mr. Hors- 
fall’s notes which he kindly submitted to me: ‘‘These nymphs 
were swarming on basal portions of wheat stems and on the red 
clover in with the wheat. No serious damage was apparent.’’ 
On July 19, a few days after the grain had been cut, the bugs 
had left the wheat but were still present on the clover; many of 
the insects however, had migrated to an adjoining field of dill 
and were feeding upon it. Mr. Horsfall reported that at Daven- 
port in August, 1917 great numbers of these bugs attacked the 
cosmos and coreopsis. He says, ‘‘They would congregate in 
clusters at the flower-bud then work down the stem sucking the 
juice so that the flower and stem would turn brown and wither. 
We also had them on nasturtium, snapdragon, summer lilacs, and 
phlox. The marigolds and late nasturtiums seemed to withstand 
their attacks and suffered less from them.’’ 
Undoubtedly 7. pulicarius hibernates successfully in Iowa but 
I have not found living hibernating examples. My earliest 
spring record is April 22 but no doubt the insect is abroad before 
that date if the season is at all favorable. It seems to be less 
