18 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



that of the highest bipeds, who are often ignorant of the difference 

 between a bee and a beetle, nor could they safely grasp the former. Yet 

 this humble bag does know the distinction, and holds the bee well off, so 

 as safely to suck out its substance. On p. 25, vol. 2, of the same work, 

 this insect is briefly described and its habits given. Dr. A. S. Packard 

 speaks of this stinging bug, in the American Naturalist, vol 1, p. 329, 

 and also in his Guide to the Study of Insects, p. 552, where the insect is 

 figured. Mr. Townend Glover, late of the Agricultural Department, in 

 his beautiful work on the Hemiptera, p. 57, has described the habits of 

 this bug, and has given three figures of it, Plate III., Fig. 13. Prof. P. 

 R. Uhler, our greatest American authority in this sub-order, in " Hemip- 

 tera West of the Mississippi," p. 58, speaks of the habits of the Phymata 

 erosa. In the current volume of the Country Gentleman, p. 551, the able 

 entomological editor, Prof. J. A. Lintner, in response to a correspondent, 

 gives a brief account of the habits, etc., of this same insect. 



DESCRIPTION. 



The " stinging bug" (Fig. 1) is somewhat jagged in appearence, about 

 three-eighths of an inch long, and generally of a yellow color, though 



Fig. i — Side view, natural size. Fig. 2— Magnified Twice. Fig. 3— Beak, much magnified. 



this latter seems quite variable. Frequently there is a distinct greenish 

 hue. Beneath the abdomen, and on the back of the head, thorax and 

 abdomen, it is more or less specked with brown ; while across the dorsal 

 aspect of the broadened abdomen is a marked stripe of brown (Fig. 2, 

 d, d). Sometimes this stripe is almost wanting, sometimes a mere patch, 

 while rarely the whole abdomen, is very slightly marked, and as often we 

 find it almost wholly brown above and below The legs (Fig. 2, b), beak 

 and antenna;, a) are greenish yellow. The beak (Fig. 3) has three joints 

 (Fig. 3, a, b, c) and a sharp point (Fig. 3, d). This beak is not only the 

 great weapon of offence, but also the organ through which the food is 



