ENEMIES OF APHIDES. 159 



thus come under the notice of the student of the Aphididce, which 

 affect a similar habit. 



In walking round a country garden on a summer or autumn 

 morning, one is almost sure to see on some of the dewy leaves a 

 bright little fly of an elegant and narrowed form, almost emerald- 

 green in colour, the iridescence of whose wing points, and the 

 delicacy of whose slender antenna render it an object of beauty. 

 It is probably a member of the genus Miris, and although not 

 itself an aphis-eater will serve to convey to an unfamiliar reader 

 the nature of the insects now under review. 



The Hcmiptera Heteroptera are most conveniently considered 

 under the sectional denominations of Geocores, or ' land bugs,' and 

 Hydrocores, or 'water bugs.' The former, with which alone we 

 are concerned, are distinguished from the latter by the presence of 

 prominent antennae, organs which in the water bugs are minute 

 and usually concealed in the hollows of the faces of the insect. 



The numerous families will be presently detailed, but so far as 

 I am aware two only can be at present certainly shown to be 

 aphis-eaters — namely, the Atithocoridcp. and the Capsidce. Mr. 

 McLachlan mentions in the Ent. Froc, 1879 — 80, that the 

 LygeidcB are also aphis-eaters, and it is not impossible, as the family 

 is known to include some insectivorous species ; but I have not 

 myself been able to obtain any definite evidence on the point. 



The Anthocoridce are among the most common of the species, 

 and may usually be found in summer on any hedgerow. Saun- 

 ders, in his monograph of the Heteroptera, describes them gener- 

 ally as aphis-eaters ; but I cannot satisfy myself that the habit 

 extends to any species except A. sylvestris (Lin.) and probably 

 A. memoralis (Fabr.), which appears to have been occasionally 

 confused with the former species, under the specific designation, 

 nevioriim. 



The CapsidcB are usually considered to be vegetable feeders, 

 and are so described by Kirby (^Entomology, 203), and the opinion 

 appears to have been generally accepted. Mr. McLachlan, how- 

 ever, in the paper above referred to, mentions the family as aphi- 

 divorous, and I have myself repeatedly met with Capsus lanartus 

 in its larva and nymph stages sucking the juices of aphides. Mr. 

 C. J. Watkins has related to me some similar instances, and Mr. 



