208 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



antenna-, and one to each of the two or three ocelli. From the ganglion beneath the 

 gullet the mouth-organs are supplied with branches, and from the thoracic ganglia and 

 terminating trunk great branches run off and ramify upon all the organs within the 

 cavity of the body. 



The muscles of the Hemiptera are generally powerful and numerous, and are ar- 

 ranged chiefly with special reference to the movement of large organs of the body, 

 such as the legs, wings, and head. Accordingly they are centred most in large bun- 

 dles, in the three great chambers of the thorax, and almost fill the cavity of the 

 prothorax. 



Although these insects are not so numerous in species as the Coleoptera, Diptera, 

 or Hymenoptera, they far outnumber the Orthoptera and Neuroptera, and possibly 

 also the Lepidoptera. A large proportion of them have sober colors, agreeing well with 

 bark, earth, rock, or other surfaces upon which they rest, and multitudes are easily 

 overlooked because of their close resemblance to buds, processes, scales, and other ob- 

 jects that surround them ; it is these peculiarities which have caused them to be dim- 

 cult to recognize and have retarded their acquisition. But with the spread of more 

 exact knowledge of their habits, a new impulse has been given to the study of the 

 species, so that every expedition to unexplored regions returns with a quota of pre- 

 viously unknown forms. 



At present about 27,000 species are known to be present in the private collections 

 and public museums of Europe and America. These, including multitudes of unde- 

 scribed species, are distributed in very nearly the following proportions : South 

 America, 10,000 ; North America, 5,000 ; Central America and the West Indies, 2,000 ; 

 Europe, 3,000 ; Asia and its islands, 3,000 ; Africa and islands, 3,000 ; and Australia, 

 New Zealand, and the Philippines, about 1,000. But this must be far short of the 

 actual number which can be found in these countries. Only in parts of Europe have 

 careful and systematic searches been conducted for procuring all the species, and even 

 there large numbers of new forms are discovered every year. So it may be safely 

 estimated that scarcely more than one-half of the species of the globe have yet been 

 accumulated, and that not less than 50,000 will be included in the more complete 

 collections of the future. The hemipterous fauna of our own country is just begin- 

 ning to be made known. Every part of its territory will yield new forms; and the 

 zealous collector will be promptly rewarded with fresh novelties in many of the 

 groups. 



Like the Coleoptera they attain the largest size and most splendid colors in the 

 tropics of both hemispheres. The largest form thus far described is the giant water- 

 bug, Belostoma grandis, which lives in the fresh and brackish waters of Guiana and 

 Brazil. It often measures fully three and a half inches in length by one and a quarter 

 inches in breadth, and closely matches the muddy beds of the streams and puddles 

 which it frequents. In the same countries, too, live the great lantern flies which 

 measure six and a half inches across the outspread wings. 



Some of the Scutellerids inhabiting Asia, Africa and the adjacent islands resemble 

 the Buprestid beetles in form, and vie with them in the splendor of their metallic 

 colors, which reflect the light in varying tints like polished copper or bronze. 



In the vicinity of the Rivers Orinoco and Amazon, as well as about the great forest 

 belts of Brazil, the species are more numerous and peculiar than in any other region 

 on the globe. The large plant and tree bugs are there especially numerous, represented 

 by the beautiful Pachycorids, Asopids, Pachylids, Meluchas and others, highly colored 



