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569. 

 CIMEX LECTULARIUS. 



The House- or Bed-bu{ 



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Order Hemiptera. Fam. Cimicldae. 



Type of the Genus, Cimex lectularius Linn. 

 CiMEX Linn., DeGeer, Curt. — Acanthia Fab., Wolff. 



AntenncB inserted before the eyes, as long as the thorax, hairy 

 and 4-jointed, two basal joints stout, 1st oblong, 2nd very long, 

 3rd and 4th slender, the former linear and longer than the 2nd, 

 4th not so long, a little thickened and conical at the apex (4) . 

 Rostrum inflected beneath the breast, and extending to the an- 

 terior coxse. 



Labrum broad, short, subovate, trigonate and ciliated (3). 

 Mandibles and Maxillce inclosed in the labium, the former com- 

 pressed at the base. 



Labium rather stout, hairy and triarticulate, basal joint long, 

 broadest at the base, contracted before the middle, 2nd the 

 shortest, somewhat oblong, 3rd a little longer but more slender 

 (2). 

 Female larger and more elongated than the male. Head subquadrate : 

 clypeus narroived, porrected and subovate : eyes small, lateral, pro- 

 minent and granulated, slightly raised from the head and retnote 

 from the base: ocelli none. Thorax transverse, sublimate, the an- 

 terior angles being large, produced, rounded and ciliated, the base 

 nearly straight : scutellum large transverse and pointed. Elytra 

 transverse, meeting at the centre, small, hairy and shaped like the 

 valve of some shells (9). Wings none. Abdomen depressed, nearly 

 orbicular in the male, more ovate and convex in the female, the apex 

 slightly pointed. Legs ivith the coxa approximating : thighs stouter 

 than the tibise, which are simple and nearly linear, posterior the 

 longest, all having a short spi?ie at the apex : tarsi triarticulate, 

 basal joint small, 2nd longer, 3rd the longest: claws strong and acute 

 (6, afore leg). 



Lectularius Linn. — Curt. Guide, Gen. 1093. 1. 



Punctured, pubescent, ferruginous- ochre : eyes black : thorax 

 with the sides reflexed : abdomen more ferruginous, the apex 

 black, as well as a spot coloured by the intestines ; tips of tarsi 

 sometimes fuscous. 



Stewart says, " The bed-bug is unhappily but too well 

 known, and was an inhabitant of Europe prior to the Christian 

 aera; at least it is mentioned by Aristophanes and other Greek 

 writers. Southall says it was hardly known in London before 

 1670, but there is good authority for asserting, that it was 

 common enough there before the great fire in 1666." 



No insect in England causes more uneasiness to the house- 

 keeper than this loathsome insect, yet there are few dwellings 



