202 
HEMIPTEKA. 
the feet, are blackish. The females are most often of a pale 
olive-green, or of a dirty greenish-yellow color ; the thorax 
spotted and more or less distinctly striped with black, and the 
thick part of the wing-covers also variegated with dusky or 
brownish lines and clouds. In both sexes, however, the yel- 
low V, or the three spots on the thorax, and the large yellow 
spot tipped with black on the wing-covers, are conspicuous 
characters, which readily afford the means of identifying the 
species. I have taken this insect in the spring, as early as the 
20th of April, and in the autumn, as late as the middle of 
October ; from which I infer that it passes the winter in the 
perfect state in some place of security. It is most abundant 
during the months of June and July. Specimens have been 
sent to me from Maine, New York, North Carolina, and 
Alabama, and Mr. Say records its occurrence in Pennsyl- 
vania, Indiana, the Northwest Territory, and Missouri. It 
seems, therefore, to be very generally diffused throughout 
the Union. 
The history of this species is yet imperfect. We know not 
where and when the eggs are laid ; the young have not been 
observed ; and the insects, during the early periods of their 
existence, have escaped notice, and are only known to us 
after they have completed their final transformations. It is 
possible that further information upon the history of these in- 
sects may afford some aid in devising proper remedies against 
their ravages. Upon a limited scale, as on plants growing in 
our gardens, may be tried the effect of sprinkling them witli 
alkaline solutions, such as strong soap-suds, or potash-water, 
or with decoctions of tobacco and of walnut-leaves, or of 
dusting the plants with air-slacked lime or sulphur. But in 
field husbandry such applications would be impracticable. I 
am inclined to believe that nothing will prove so effectual as 
thorough irrigation, or copious and frequent showers of rain, 
which will bring forward the plants with such rapidity, that 
they will soon become so strong and vigorous as to withstand 
the attacks of these little bugs. The great increase of these 
