36 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



puncture but to certain skin eruptions, and to some of those early 

 summer skin troubles whicli are known as strawberry rash, etc. 

 It is in this aspect of the subject that the resemblance to taran- 

 tulism comes in, and this is the result of the hysterical wave, if it 

 may be so termed. 



Six different heteropterous insects were mentioned in the early 

 part of this article, and it will be appropriate to give each of them 

 some little detailed consideration, taking the species of Eastern dis- 

 tribution first, since the scare had its origin in the East, and has 

 there perhaps been more fully exploited. 



Opsicosies personatus, also known as Beduvius personatus, and 

 which has been termed the " cannibal bug," is a European species 

 introduced into this country at some unknown date, but possibly 

 following close in the wake of the bedbug. In Europe this species 

 haunts houses for the purpose of preying upon bedbugs. Riley, 

 in his well-known article on Poisonous Insects, published in Wood's 

 Reference Handbook of Medical Science, states that if a fly or an- 

 other insect is offered to the cannibal bug it is first touched with 

 the antennae, a sudden spring follows, and at the same time the 

 beak is thrust into the prey. The young specimens are covered 



Melanotestis ABDOMINALI9. Female at ri^'lit ; 

 male at left, with eular^'ed beak at side. 

 Twice natural size. (Original.) 



Head and Proboscis of Coxoriiinub 

 8AN0UISVGUS. (After Marlatt.) 



with a glutinous substance, to which bits of dirt and dust adhere. 

 They move deliberately, with a long pause between each step, the 

 step being taken in a jerky manner. The distribution of the spe- 

 cies, as given by Router in his Monograph of the Genus Beduvius^ 

 is Europe to the middle of Sweden, Caucasia, Asia Minor, Algeria, 

 Madeira; North America, Canada, New York, Philadelphia, In- 

 diana; Tasmania, Au.stralia — from whicli it appears that the insect 

 is already practically ff>sinopolitan, and in fact may almost be 



