80 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 16 
following statement in regard to it: “Otto Heidemann considers the speci¬ 
men ‘near prasinus Fallen’. The description of 0. viridicatus Uhl. 
agrees very closely, the most notable distinction being the black mem¬ 
branes of that species.” 
May 15, 1915 is the earliest record of its presence in Illinois. The 
writer has not been able to find any reference to it in economic literature. 
Its destructive character as revealed by observations made in the vicin¬ 
ity of Olney in 1915, ’16, and ’17 warrants us in recording it as one of our 
injurious insects. 
Its chief food plant at Olney was wild garlic, commonly but erroneous¬ 
ly called “wild onion” by the people of that locality. No doubt it will 
accept wild onion as a host plant as readily as wild garlic but this has 
not been verified. It might therefore, more properly be named the 
“garlic capsid” but since its economic importance depends upon its 
relation to the cultivated onion I have chosen to suggest that it be named 
the “onion capsid.” 
The tops of the onions on which the insects were first seen were at 
the time killed half way to the ground and later most of the tops were 
killed to the ground. The same condition prevailed in a number of 
patches visited. The insects found were all adults. The owners re¬ 
ported that they had appeared very suddenly a few days before my 
visit, and that this had been a frequent occurrence in former years in 
that locality. One man reported later that they were also abundant 
on the “wild onion” growing in his pasture. This gave a clew to the 
situation and by observations made during the two following years it 
was learned that wild garlic, which is abundant in that locality, is the 
natural host plant of the species. 
The eggs are deposited in longitudinal slits made in the fruiting stalks of 
the plant, as shown in PI. 1, Figs. 1,2, and 3, from five to twenty eggs being 
deposited in each slit. The insect hibernates in the egg stage, hatching 
continues throughout April, adults begin to appear about the first week 
in May and are to be found until about June 10, and oviposition begins 
about May 15th and continues until the adults disappear. A few eggs 
were found in tops of cultivated winter onions, but cultivated onions 
do not appear to be nearly as attractive to the female for purposes of 
oviposition as garlic. 
The young nymphs are green with orange colored thorax and red 
eyes, the later stages and the adults are uniform light yellowish green. 
The adults are very active flyers and when abundant swarm from 
wild garlic fields to the cultivated onion and soon suck the life out of 
