HEMIPTERA. 209 



base (Fig. 179). The antenna of each side is inserted below an 

 ideal line extending from the eye to the base of the 

 rostrum. And the vertex is not constricted in front of £25$^. 

 the ocelli. X2=5c^=St 



There is a great variety of forms in this family; Fig. i 79 .— Wing- 

 the North American species are distributed among ^° ver of Ly&a! ~ 

 nearly fifty genera, representing nine sub-families. 



The first sub-family, Lyg<2in<2, includes the forms, referred to 

 above, that resemble the Pyrrhocoridae in coloring. These are chief- 

 ly red insects, banded with black across the wing-covers. Among 

 our most common species are the three following: 



Oncopcltus fascidtus. — This is a large red and black insect, measur- 

 ing 16 mm. (0.63 in.) in length. It has the following-named parts 

 black: legs, antennae, rostrum, sides, and middle line of the head, 

 disk of the prothorax, scutellum, most of the ventral aspect of the 

 thorax, dots along the lateral edge of the abdomen, the tip of the 

 abdomen, and two spots on each side of the ventral aspect of the 

 same region. There is a broad black transverse band across the middle 

 of the wing-covers; and the membrane is also of the same color. This 

 species " is pretty generally distributed throughout the warm and 

 sheltered parts of this continent, and wherever the larger varieties of 

 Asclepias flourish, either on the coast or inland." (Uhler.) 



Lygceus reclivdtus. — This is smaller than the preceding species, 

 measuring from 10 to 12 mm. (0.4 in. to 0.47 in.) in length. The 

 head is black, with red spots on the vertex ; the thorax is black, 

 with a transverse red band on the disk of the pronotum ; this 

 band is sometimes twice interrupted, so that it is represented by 

 three dots ; the abdomen is bright red, with the apex, a row of 

 small dots on the lateral edges, and a row of spots on each side of 

 the venter, black; the wing-covers are black, with a red arc opening 

 outwards on each ; the free margin of the membrane, a pair of spots 

 on the disk, and two or more irregular spots on the basal margin of 

 the membrane, are snowy white. 



A variety occurs in which the white spots on the disk of the 

 membrane are wanting. This variety is the most common represen- 

 tative of the Lygaeinae which I find in central New York. A few 

 of the New York specimens show the white spot; while in a large 

 series of this species in our collection from Arizona these spots are 

 invariably present. 



Lygmis t&rcicus. — Tins species is very closely allied to the pre- 

 ceding, if not identical with it. Here the red spot on the vertex is 



