THE HETEROPTERA. 387 



the name of Heteroptera, applied to this group, refers, 

 and the same character gave rise to the name of 

 Hemiptera, given by Linnaeus to the Rhynchota and 

 Orthoptera, which he regarded as forming a single 

 order. In the absence of the wings, the nature of 

 any insect of this group may be determined by the 

 position of the rostrum, which here springs from the 

 fore part of the head, whilst in the second suborder 

 it takes its rise from the posterior portion of the lower 

 surface of the head close to the breast. 



As the insects belonging to this group, which are 

 commonly known as Bugs, do not present any great 

 diversity of habit, they will not detain us very long ; 

 the majority of them, in fact, do nothing but crawl 

 about and suck the juices of animals or plants from 

 their birth to the end of their existence, so that we 

 cannot expect that their history should present us 

 with any of those semi-romantic incidents which 

 enliven the biography of many of the insects which 

 have hitherto engaged our attention. 



In exploring the nettle-banks during the early 

 summer months, in search of the many Beetles which 

 make these plants their home, the collector will often 

 find, on looking into his sweeping-net to see what 

 prizes may be in store for him, that his nose is assailed 

 by a strong and disagreeable odour, which, unless he 

 has been all his life particularly fortunate in his 

 sleeping apartments, will forcibly remind him of a 

 familiar insect which usually takes up its quarters in 

 our bed-chambers. When this is the case, he may 

 depend upon finding amongst the mass of spiders, 

 flies and beetles, which lie kicking about at the bottom 



