POLYCTEN ID AE C APSIDAE 



561 



them/ treated them as aberrant Anophira or Lice, but there do 

 not appear to be any sufficient grounds for removing these para- 

 sites from Hemiptera-Heteroptera. The condition of their alar 

 organs reminds one of what exists in Cimex and Aepo23hilus, and 

 the mouth is not known to possess any very peculiar structure. 

 "We have had no opportunity of making a thorough examinatioi) 

 of PoJyctenes, and therefore speak with some diflidence. 



Fam. 18. Capsidae. — Moderate-sized or small hugs, of delicate 

 consistence, tvithout ocelli ; the elytra and loings usually large in 

 2>ro2)ortion to the hody, the former with tvjo cells {occasionally 



Fig. 274. — Helopeltis sp. East India. 



only one) in the memhrane. Antennae fo ar-joiiited, the second joint 

 vsually very long, the terminal two more slender than the others. 

 The proboscis not received in a groove. Scutelluni exposed, mode- 

 rately large. Tarsi three-jointed. Female ivith an ovipositor 

 capable of exsertion. — This family is one of the most extensive of 

 the Hemiptera ; we have about 170 species in Britain, where 

 they are most abundant in the south. The exotic species have 

 been but little collected. Their colours 

 are usually delicate rather than vivid, 

 and are never metallic. They frequent 

 plants of all kinds, and many of them 

 skip by the aid of their wings with great 

 agility in the sunshine. The majority 

 probably suck the juices of the plants, but 

 some are known to prey on other Insects. 

 The species of the Indian genus Helo- 

 jjeltis (Fig. 274) are remarkable by 

 possessing a knobbed spine projecting 

 straight up from the scutellum, making 

 the individual look as if it were a specimen with a pin through 

 ^ Thesaurus ent. Oxonicnsis, 1874, p. 197. 



VOL. vr 2 



Ftg. 275. — Section of a stem with 

 egg of a C'apsifl bug allied 

 to Helopeltis (Moesa-bligM). 

 X 58. (After Dudgeon.) 



