38 



ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY CIRCULAR 39 



the adult stage), ambush bugs, lace 

 bugs, and stink bugs. Chief pest of this 

 group is the chinch bug, Blissus leucop- 

 terus (Say), fig. 31. Other pests include 

 many kinds of plant bugs, of which 

 Lygus oblineatus (Say) is shown in fig. 

 32. The bed bugs, another group never 

 developing functional wings, belong 

 here also. 



Members of one family, the Reduviidae 

 or assassin bugs, prey on other insects. 

 A few species of these, some of them an 

 inch long, occasionally attack people, in- 

 flicting an extremely painful bite and 

 causing considerable bleeding. These 

 are called "kissing bugs." 

 The suborder Homoptera contains the 

 cicadas, aphids, and their allies. These 

 insects also have sucking mouthparts, 

 but the beak is attached at the back of 

 the head instead of the front of the head 

 as in the suborder Heteroptera. Typically, the Homoptera have 

 two pairs of wings, both of which are membranous. There are 

 probably as many kinds without wings, however, as with them. 

 The nymphal stages are in most respects similar to the adults. 



Fig. 32. — Hemiptera. 

 Lygus oblineatus, the tarn- 

 ished plant bug. Actual 

 length about 0.2 inch. 



Fig. 33. — Hemiptera. Aphis maidi-radicis, the corn root aphid. The form 

 at the left is the winged form, that at the right is the wingless form. All of 

 the plant lice have these two forms. This species, as well as other kinds of 

 plant lice, is frequently attended by ants, which feed on the honeydew pro- 

 duced by the aphids. Actual length less than 0.1 inch. 



