694 CLASS IV. INSECTA. 



the abdomen exposed. No ocelli. Rostrum lies in 'a groove. A small 

 but widely distributed family with some 12 species, but notorious as 

 it includes the bed-bug Cimex lectularius, a long-lived and prolific insect 

 confined to the dwellings of man. Other species infest birds and bats, 

 e.g. Creciacus hirundinis common in swallows' nests. 



Fam. 16. Anthocoridae. Small. Head projecting, in front, well in 

 advance of the origin of the antennae. Eyes near thorax, ocelli and elytra 

 usually present. Rostrum free. Plant- and tree-haunting bugs, 

 said to feed on other insects. Fairly numerous both in species and in- 

 dividuals. Triphleps eats plant-lice. 



Fam. 17. Polyctenidae. Elytra short and undivided. Proboscis sheath 

 3-, tarsi 4-, and antennas 4-, segmented. A small family of three or four 

 species parasitic on bats. Polyctenes. 



Fam. 18. Capsidae. Fair-sized, usually slender. Elytra and wings 

 large. No ocelli. Antennae 4-segmented, the two distal segments slender. 

 Tarsi 3-segmented. Scutellum visible. Ovipositor present. A large 

 family with over 1,000 described species, nearly 200 British. They haunt 

 plants and are at times destructive, though some devour other insects, 

 e.g. Camptobrochis. Oncognathus is found amongst timothy -grass, Fulvius 

 on lichens, Lygus causes the " buttoning " of strawberries, Poecilocapsus 

 sucks the sap of currants and gooseberries. 



Fam. 19. Salclidae. Eyes large, ocelli between them. Rostrum free. 

 Scutellum large. Elytra of three parts, covering 

 abdomen. Tarsi 3-segmented. Three genera with 

 about 100 species compose this family. The 

 Saldidae are small, oval, convex bugs which fre- 

 quent damp places, wet moss, the sea shore and 

 salt-marshes. They run, and some jump, actively, 

 as is expressed in the name of one genus Velo- 

 cipeda. Salda the chief genus is British. 



Series B. Cryptocerata. Aquatic bugs with 

 the antennae hidden on the under side of the head or 

 concealed in a groove. 



Fam. 20. Galgulidae.* Short stumpy bugs with 

 very broad heads. Eyes large. Ocelli present. 

 Hind-legs long, running. A small family of some 

 20 species which love the damp margins of streams 

 and ponds. No British species. Pelogonus. tral- 

 gulus. 



Fio. 437. Nepy, cinerea. Fam. 21. Nepidae. Anterior legs arise from 



front edge of prosternum and are raptorial. Ab- 

 domen ends in a long cylindrical respiratory tube composed of two semi- 

 cylindrical halves. Tarsi 1 -segmented. The water-scorpions are large 

 insects falling into two genera, Ranatra, slender and twig-like (Fig. 438) 

 and Nepa, flattened and leaf-like (Figs. 437, 375). Both have British 

 representatives. The eggs, laid on water-plants, bear peculiar filaments. 

 Fam. 22. Naucoridae. No raptorial legs, or ocelli or respiratory 

 tube. Anterior legs with broad femora inserted at or near the front of 

 the prosternum. Antennae 4-segmented. Oval, swimming bugs with 

 some nine genera and thirty species. Naucoris and Aphelocheirus are 

 British. Pelocoris feeds on land-insects which fall into the water. 



Sometimes termed Pelogonidae. 



