PREFACE. 



The object of the present volume is to farnisli Britisli entomo- 

 logists with descriptions of the indigenous Hemiptera-Heteroptera. 

 Hitherto only a few species have been described or figured by 

 British authors, and to the consequent difliculty of naming their 

 captures may probably be attributed the indifierence with which 

 this order of insects has been regarded by British collectors. The 

 collections are few and imperfect, and either only in part or incor- 

 rectly named, the national collection in the British Museum being 

 no exception. 



On the Continent, on the contrary, the order has received great 

 attention from eminent authors, and we have had to refer to their 

 works for information ; the latest, and those to which we are most 

 indebted, being by Fieber and Elor. 



Pieber's • Europaischen Hemiptera,' published in 1861, con- 

 taining descriptions of all the European species, is the condensed 

 result of a lifetime of observation, and will ever remain a monu- 

 ment of methodised labour and the genius of tlie author. We fear, 

 nevertheless, that the exigencies of the "Analytic Method" 

 adopted have often led the author to exaggerate the importance of 

 specific difi'erences, and to create unnecessary genera. Erom some 

 of his conclusions in this respect we have been compelled to dissent, 

 and frequently, where we have adopted his genera, it has been rather 

 from an intense dislike to add to the overburdened nomenclature by 

 making new generic names for combinations of his genera, than from 

 the conviction that they are necessary divisions. On the other hand, 



