66 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
sinuate on either side; in addition, the fine punctures on the 
venter of the male are reddish while the larger ones are black. 
This species along with Euschistus variolarius shares the 
distinction of being the most common and widely distributed 
representative of the Iowa Scutelleroidea. Many specimens are 
at hand from more than forty localities in the state and a com- 
plete list of locality records would include practically every 
place in which collecting has been done. However, in north- 
western Iowa, particularly in the vicinity of Lake Okoboji, the 
number of specimens taken has been surprisingly small. Osborn 
reported the species as common in Iowa. 
Apparently this is a very hardy and prolific insect. My rec- 
ords show that specimens have been taken in every month of the 
year except December and January, the earliest spring record 
being February 28 and the latest autumn record November 6. 
Hibernating individuals are usually found under sticks, boards 
and stones in meadows and pastures or in out of the way places 
such as roadsides and fence corners which have been allowed to 
grow up in clover or weeds. Often, too, specimens are found 
beneath a heavy fall of leaves along the edges of woods. Nymphs 
have been found in the months of June, July, August and Sep- 
tember. Half grown nymphs have been taken June 26, while 
nymphs less than half grown have been collected as late as 
September 25. In general, the nymphs seem to be most abun- 
dant in July and August and the available records and data 
show that at least two generations and possibly a partial third 
generation develop annually in the field in Iowa. Individuals 
in copula have been swept from vegetation usually between 
June 30 and July 16. 
One of the commonest food plants is Solidago sp. upon which 
the insects may often be captured in large numbers. During 
the summer patches of sweet clover growing along roads and 
edges of fields are frequently quite heavily infested by this bug. 
Red clover and timothy fields seem also to be favorite haunts 
and I have found that dry situations seem to be preferred to 
moist ones. This insect has also been collected on wild grape 
(Vitis vulpina Linn.), ragweed (Ambrosia artemisuifolia Linn.) 
and mullein (Verbascum thapsus Linn.). The latter plant 
