80 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 17 
President A. G. Ruggles: The next paper is by P. A. Readio. 
NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF A BENEFICIAL REDUVIID, 
SINE A DIADEM A (FABR.), HETEROPTERA 
By P. A. Readio, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 
Abstract 
Sinea diadema (Fabr.) is a predacious insect which, because of its wide distribution 
on our continent, its richness in individuals, and its diet of injurious insects, is of 
considerable importance as a beneficial insect. It winters as an adult and probably 
passes through two generations a season. Description of the eggs, the process of 
hatching, feeding of the nymphs, length of the nymphal stages and descriptions of the 
nymphal instars are given in this paper. 
When one is collecting in fields and meadows, the very common occur¬ 
rence of a medium sized, grayish-brown, spiny reduviid frequently 
causes speculations as to whether this very abundant species, Sinea 
diadema (Fabr.), is not of great benefit as an enemy of the injurious in¬ 
sects found in the same fields. A continuation of these speculations led 
to the following study. 
In the first place, Sinea diadema is a species of very wide distribu¬ 
tion in North America. Van Duzee 1 mentions its occurrence in twenty - 
one states of the United States and in two provinces of Canada. Uhler, 
speaking of Sinea diadema , says, “It is distributed over a large part of 
North America from Mexico into Canada, and throughout the Atlantic 
region,” 2 and again, “The species is common in many parts of North 
America including California, Mexico and Central America.” 3 There 
can be no doubt of its general distribution on our continent. 
We also find that Sinea diadema is, in a good many localities, rich in 
individuals. Torre Bueno, speaking of this species, says, “A common 
species on red clover. It is, perhaps, the commonest species in the 
East.” 4 In eastern Kansas the writer has found it to be very common 
indeed in all grassy and weedy fields and in alfalfa. Most of the faunal 
list of Heteroptera of North American regions record Sinea diadema as 
“common.” 
If, now, we can add to the wide distribution and the richness in indi¬ 
viduals a diet of injurious insects we shall have a beneficial insect of no 
small importance. That this is true seems to be the case. Torre 
Bueno says, “It preys on caterpillars and other soft bodied insects 
which it catches on the clover.” 4 Chittenden mentions it as a natural 
enemy of the Colorado potato beetle 5 and of the striped cucumber 
beetle. 6 Morgan found that it would feed on the cotton boll weevil 
and the pepper weevil, consuming larger numbers of these insects than 
