536 



FAMILY XIX. — REDUVIID^. 



face of front femora, tarsi and a stripe on sides extending from beak to 

 base of pronotum, fuscous; middle of hind lobe of head and middle of 

 pronotum each with a pair of small black dots; ventrals 3 — 6 each also 

 with a pair of black dots. Head and pronotum thickly minutely granu- 

 late. Antennas very slender, joint 1 yellow, vaguely annulate with red- 

 dish-brown, reaching middle of metanotum; 2 pale yellow, more slender 

 and one-fifth shorter than 1 ; 3 and 4 dusky, much shorter. Hind mar- 

 gin of metanotum broadly and deeply U-shaped to receive the base of 

 abdomen. Front femora about as long as pro- and mesonotum united, 

 their spines pale, black tipped; front tibiae and tarsi subequal in length, 

 each armed beneath with two rows of short denticles, the tibiae also 

 with numerous fine setae. Male with last dorsal ending in an acute up- 

 curved process or flap which covers the genital plate beneath, the latter 

 somewhat compressed and subcarinate. Length, 23 — 25 mm. 



Marco, Fla., April 19, male type (Doris). Cape Sable, Fla., 

 April 5, one female from base of dense tufts of grass growing 

 on the beach (W.S.B.). Known elsewhere only from Big 

 Pine Key, Fla., and Vict, de las Tunas, Cuba. 



Family XIX. REDUVIID^E Latreille, 1807, 126. 



The Assassin Bugs 



Heteroptera varying much in size, form and general facies, 

 but all stouter bodied than the Ploiariidse and having the head 

 bilobed by a transverse groove between the eyes ; ocelli present 



(except in the first two sub- 

 families) ; beak stout, rigid, 3- 

 jointed (fig. 128) , usually 

 curved in the form of a semi- 

 loop beneath the head, its tip 

 resting in the stridulatory 

 groove of presternum ; antennae 

 slender, usually 4-jointed ; pro- 

 notum with a more or less dis- 

 tinct transverse impression, the 

 front portion narrower than the 

 hind one ; scutellum small, tri- 

 elytra usually entire 

 the abdomen; 



membrane with several anastomosing main veins and usually 

 numerous much smaller ones ; front legs more or less raptorial, 

 their tibiae shorter than head, their femora not much stouter 

 than those of middle and hind legs, both femora and tibiae often 

 thickly clothed on the under-side with stiff bristles, rarely 



Fig. 128. Side view of beak of Redu 

 mis personatus (L.), the setae removed angular 

 from the sheath. (Alter Lugger). 



and covering 



