KEDUVIIDiE. 541 



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

 tire either wanting, or the}' reach only to the middle of the ab- 

 domen. Emesa longipes DeGeer has a white head, 

 with a brown band under the eyes ; the femora are 

 annulated with brown, and tipped with white. 



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

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

 tlie bod3^ Tlie beak reaches to the end of the breast, 

 tlie 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 Nobis \s known b}' the anterior tibial having an 

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

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

 An allied and common form is the Pirates j^io'pes of Herrich 

 Schaeffer (Fig. 545). The P. biguttatus 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 generall}-^ found in an 

 undeveloped imago state ; the latter 

 being either entirely apterous or with 

 tlie fore wings rudimental, although 

 occasionally met with having the four 

 wings completely developed." Mr. 

 Westwood tliinks that, especially in hot seasons, these apterous 

 insects acquire full sized wings, in accordance with the same 

 opinion of Spinola, whom he quotes. 



The type of the family' is the genus Peduvius of Fabricius. 

 which may be recognized by its second and third antennal 

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

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

 and stout. Reduvius personatxis Linn., a black species, is said 

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

 «tinct to envelope themselves in a tliick coating of particles of 



