1906 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 77 



A. Bug of remarkable shapfe is Coriscus suhcoleoptratus , Kirby, in the 

 family Nahidoe. It lias the head and thorax narrow, and the abdomen 

 greatly widened in proportion to the size of the insect. It is suggestive 

 of a flask. Its body colour is black, but the abdomen has a yellow border. 

 The legs and long sharp proboscis are yellow. Its wings are very diminu- 

 tive. 



In the late summer when our country road sides are adorned with the 

 Golden Hod, the pretty little Fritillary, Argynnis Myrina, Cram., may be 

 seen in numbers sporting about the flower heads. Here and there one of 

 these butterflies may be seen motionless — lifeless If one will take the 

 trouble to look into a case of the kind, he will probably find that the ill- 

 starred insect has fallen into the clutches of a lurking foe, Fhymata erosa, 

 Fabr., belonging to the Phymatidm. This strange insect is yellow beneath, 

 and yellow marked with brown above. It has yellow legs and proboscis, 

 and angulated thorax and abdomen. It lies back downwards among the 

 blossoms of the iSolidago, patiently awaiting its prey. A butterfly alights 

 with outspread limbs. One of these comes within reach of the expectant 

 bug. Instantly the extended tarsus of the bug springs back over the leg of 

 the butterfly, and into a toothed groove in the disproportionately large tibia 

 of the bug; and the victim is held securely, while its foe thrusts its long 

 proboscis into its body and drains away its life juices. 



I will mention only two other species — they are known as "Assassin 

 Bugs," (Fig. 24) for they make other insects their prey. They belong to 

 the Reduviidce, to which the "Kissing Bug" of ill-repute, Melanolestes 

 picipes, H.S., also belongs. 



Acholla multispinosa, De G. (Fig. 25), is a brown insect, two-thirds of 

 an inch long. It has a forbidding appearance, which is well, for it is a 

 dangerous creature. On pages 73-5 of the Thirtieth Annual Report of the 

 Entomological Society of Ontario, *Pr. Bethune has given a well-authenti- 

 cated account of the death of a child from a puncture from the proboscis of 

 a bug of this species. The child was wounded under the knee, and blood 

 poisoning ensued. 



The other species is Opsicmttis personatus, Linn. It is a larger insect 

 than the last mentioned, being three-fourths of an inch long ; and — with the 

 exception of the under wings — it is wholly black, or very dark brown. When 

 its wings are outspread, its abdomen is found to be hollowed out, like a 

 scoop or spoon. This species enters houses in search of Acanthia lecUdaria, 

 Linn. Its larva has the habit of covering itself with a coat of dust or mud, 

 and, so disguised, escapes notice till its motions betray its presence. 



I do not think the Reduviidce go out of their way to inflict injury upon 

 human beings. I think it may be said of them that, unmolested, they do 

 not molest. 



The late highly esteemed J. Alston Moffat once told that he had held 

 a specimen of A. multispinosa firmly between his finger and thumb, while 

 he searched for a pin wherewith to transfix it. The bug managed to get 

 its head free, and then, sent in its little hill for damages, greatly to Mr, 

 Moffat's discomposure. 



Disagreeable as many species of the Hemiptera undoubtedly are, they 

 yet serve valuable purposes in keeping down the numbers of other and in- 

 jurious insects: and the habits of some of them are so remarkable as to claim 

 more than a passing notice. In dealing with them the poet Cowper's rule 

 is worthy of attention — of course entomologists are exempt from it\ He 

 savs : — 



