THE AMBUSH BUGS 



(Family PhymatidcB.) 



The strong and ferocious predatory bugs of this group num- 

 ber only forty-three described species, of which but five live in 

 the United States, yet it is structurally and economically an im- 

 portant family. The head is shaped like that of the Aradidae, the 

 front legs are enlarged and fitted for grasping, frequently lacking 



Fig. 187. — Phymati wolffii. 

 (From U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



the tarsi, and its beak and general appearance ally it to the 

 Reduviidae. These insects are tough and horny, and in the 

 tropics are apt to be armed with spines. Phymata wolffii Stal., 

 our commonest species, is yellowish-green in color, with a brown 

 or blackish band across its abdomen. It frequents yellowish 

 flowers like the ox-eye daisy, with which its color harmonizes, 

 disguising its presence from the insects which visit such flowers, 

 and upon which it preys. From this fact Comstock has called 

 these insects "the ambush bugs," and this insect affords our 

 best exponent of what Professor Poulton calls "specific aggres- 

 sive resemblance " — that is, the resemblance of a predatory 

 species to some special object to facilitate the capture of its prey. 

 The full life history of none of the Phymatids is known, and P. 

 wolffii should be followed through its life round by some careful 

 observer. 



297 



