41 
third, ultimate joint longer than the second, thick¬ 
est; thorax tinged with cinerous before, with the 
basal edge piceous; hemelytra (elytra) white, with a 
blackish oval spot on the lateral middle; rostrum and 
feet honey-yellow; thighs a little dilated. Length 
less than three-twentieths of an inch.” 
Nineteen years afterwards Dr. LeBaron, not aware 
that the species had previously been described, nam¬ 
ed it Rhyparochromus devastator, and gave the follow¬ 
ing description in the Prairie Farmer of September, 
1850: 
“Length If lines or three-twentieths of an inch. 
Body black, clothed with a very fine grayish down FiG "chinch bu 
not distinctly visible to the naked eye; basal joint 1 The line below shows 
of the antennae honey-yellow, second joint the same, the natural length, 
tipped with black, third and fourth joints black; beak brown; 
wings and wing-cases white ; the latter are black at their insertion, 
and have near the middle two short, irregular black lines, and a con¬ 
spicuous black marginal spot; legs dark honey yellow, terminal joint 
of the feet and the claws black.” 
Although the history of this species as an injurious insect has re¬ 
ceived considerable attention from entomologists, yet it cannot be 
considered as fully known. But it is unnecessary for us to examine 
this except so far as it relates to Illinois. 
According to Dr. Fitch, it was first noticed about 1783, as a depre¬ 
dator upon wheat in North Carolina. It was very destructive in that 
State in 1809; in 1839 it was excessively numerous in Virginia and 
North Carolina. 
Mr. Say in connection with the description made in 1831, which I 
have quoted, remarks that he “took a single specimen on the Eastern 
shore of Virginia." As he was at this time residing at New Harmo¬ 
ny, Indiana, and about this time paid special attention to collecting 
the Heteroptera of Southwestern Indiana, the inference is very strong 
that it was then unknown in that section. Whether it is a native of 
the State is uncertain, in fact, I think it a matter of doubt; still, as 
Dr. Fitch found one or two specimens in New York, and Dr. Harris 
one or two in Massachusetts, and as the first recorded appearance of the 
species in our state w r as in the northern portion, it may be that it is 
native, existing in very limited numbers except when years favorable 
to its development occurred. 
The first record of their operations in Illinois which I have been 
able to find is in the Prairie Farmer of October, 1845, as follows : 
“Chintz Bugs. —An insect so named is at work as we learn by a 
farmer in Knox county, eating up the wheat and doing extensive 
damage. They appear in myriads, defying all endeavors at extermi¬ 
nation.” 
It was also observed the same season in Will, Tazewell and some 
other counties in large numbers. From the December number, 1845, 
of the same paper, we learn that they did considerable damage to 
wheat and corn in Tazewell county in 1840, which is their first ap¬ 
pearance in injurious numbers in the State of which we have any 
account. It is stated that they appeared first in the neighborhood of 
