KEY TO SUBORDERS OF HETEROPTERA. 



31 



A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE ORDER 



HETEROPTERA OF EASTERN 



NORTH AMERICA. 



The Order Heteroptera, as defined on page 21, was founded 

 by Latreille in 1810 as a suborder of Hemiptera. It com- 

 prises about 14,000 known species and in geological time dates 

 back to the Lower Permian era. Van Duzee (1917) lists about 

 1,500 species from America north of Mexico, and nearly 300 

 have since been described from that region. The order as 

 defined may be separated into two major divisions or sub- 

 orders, as follows : 



Fig. 6. Structures used in classification of Heteropteron Families, a, Elytron 

 of Xaeogeidae ; b, of Coriscidae ; c, of Lygaeida? : d, of Pyrrhocorida? ; c, of Meso- 

 velidae ; f, of Saldidae ; </, of Tingitidae ; h, of Mirida? ; i, antenna? of Pentatomidae ; 

 ./. of Xaeogeidae ; fc, side view of head of Coreidae ; I, of Lygseidae ; m, raptorial 

 front leg of Xabidae : a, front tarsus of Gerridae. (After Parshley in Psycho). 



KEY TO SUBORDERS OF HETEROPTERA 



a. Antennae as long as or longer than head, always plainly visible; 

 hind coxae nearly globose, 1 " partly received in cavities or sockets, 

 and therefore capable of rotatory movement; hind femora not 

 grooved; osteola usually present. Habitat mainly terrestrial, 

 sometimes semiaquatic. Suborder I. GYMNOCERATA, p. 32. 

 aa. Antennae shorter than head and concealed in grooves or pockets on 

 its under side 11 (fig. 207, b) ; hind coxa? usually somewhat elongate 

 and (except in the family Nepidae) not set in cavities, but hinged 

 to the metasternum ; femora often grooved for the reception of 

 the tibiae in repose; osteola absent. Habitat aquatic or semi- 

 aquatic. Suborder II. CRYPTOCERATA, p. 1018. 



llp Except in the family Saldidae. "Visible in the Ochterida?. 



