REDUVIID^. 



541 



fore legs are raptorial, with long and thin coxne. The wings 

 are either wanting, or thej- reach only to the middle of the ab- 

 domen. Emesa longipes DeGeer has a white head, 

 with a;brown band under tlie eyes ; the femora are 

 annulated with brown, and tipped with white. 



In Salda the body is small, elliptical and flat ; the 

 antemife are long and thread-like, half as long as 

 the body. The beak reaches to the end of the breast, 

 the second joint being at least six times as long as Fig. 545. 

 the first, and the legs are short and slender. The species are 

 found mostly in Europe along the shores of the ocean and 

 inland waters. 



The genus Nahis is known by the anterior tibijB having an 

 apical cushion ; the beak is slender, extending to the hind legs. 

 Nahis ferus Linn, is abundant in gardens, feeding on insects. 

 An allied and common form is the Pirates picipes of Herrich 

 Schaeffer (Fig. 545). The P. biguttahis Say has been found 

 between the mattrasses of a bug-infested bed in south Illinois, 

 and probably feeds on the bed-bug. (American Entomolgist, 

 p. 37.) 



The allied genera Prostemma (P. 

 guttata), and Coranus (C. subap- 

 terus) "are interesting on account 

 of their being generally found in an 

 undeveloped imago state ; the latter 

 being either entirely apterous or with 

 the fore wings rudimental, although 

 occasionally met with having the four 

 wings completely developed." Mr. 

 Westwood thinks that, especially in hot seasons, these apterous 

 insects acquire full sized wings, in accordance with the same 

 opinion of Spinola, whom he quotes. 



Tlic type of the family is the genus Reduvius of Fabricius, 

 which may be recognized by its second and third antennal 

 joints being much longer than the first, while the fourth is 

 hair-like. The limbs are densely hirsute, and the beak is short 

 and stout. Reduvius per sonatus Linn., a black species, is said 

 to feed upon the bed-bug. "The larva and pupa have the in- 

 stinct to envelope themselves in a thick coating of particles of 



