CHAPTER XX 

 ORDER HEMIPTERA* 



The True Bugs 



The winged members of this order have jour wtngs; the first pair of 

 wings are thickened at the base, with thinner extremities which overlap 

 on the back. The mouth-parts are formed for piercing and sucking; the 

 beak arises from the front part of the head. The metamorphosis is gradual. 



People who know but little regarding entomology are apt to apply 

 the term bug to any kind of insect ; but strictly speaking, only mem- 

 bers of the order Hemiptera are bugs. 



The bugs are very common insects. Many species abound on grass 

 and on the foliage of other plants; some species live on the surface of 

 water; others live within water; and a few are parasitic on birds and 

 mammals. 



This order is a ven^ important one; it includes many species in- 

 jurious to vegetation ; among these are some of our more important 

 pests of cultivated plants. On the other hand, some of the species 

 are ranked among beneficial insects on account of their predac'ous 

 habits; for many of them feed upon noxious insects. 



The name Hemiptera was suggested by the form of the front 

 wings. In these the basal half is thickened so as to resemble the 

 elytra of beetles, only the terminal half being wing-like. The hind 

 wings are membranous, and are folded beneath the front wings. On 

 this account the front wings are often termed wing-covers; they are 

 also termed hemelytra, a word suggested by their structure. 



Formerly, when the Homoptera was included in the order Hemip- 

 tera, the true bugs constituted the suborder Heteroptera; this name 

 indicated the remarkable difference in the texture of the two pairs of 

 wings of the true bugs and served to contrast this condition with that 

 found in the Homoptera, where the two pairs of wings are usually 

 similar in structure. 



In the Hemiptera the front wings present characters much used 

 in the classification of these insects ; and consequently special names 

 have been applied to the diif erent parts of them The thickened basal 

 portion is composed of two pieces joined together at their sides; one 

 of these is narrow and is the part next to the scutellum when the 

 wings are closed; this is distinguished as the clavus (Fig. 399, cl) ; the 

 other part is the corium (Fig. 399, co). The terminal portion of the 

 front wing is termed the membrane (Fig. 399, m). In certain families, 

 the Anthocoridas for example, a narrow piece along the costal margin 

 of the wing is separated by a suture from the remainder of the 



*Hemiptera: hemi- (vixi), half; pteron {■KTepbv), a wing. 



The order Hemiptera as now restricted includes only one of the suborders of 

 the old order Hemiptera, the suborder Heteroptera. The following order, the 

 Homoptera, was formerly regarded as a suborder of the Hemiptera. 



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