112 



Forty-first Report on the State Museum. 



Fig. 46.— Conoehinus sanguisugus; imago 



arm was lost for three days {American Entomologist, i, p. 88). Dr. 

 LeConte adds to his description of it: " This insect inflicts a most jDain- 

 ful wound. It is remarkable, also, for sucking the blood of mammals, 

 particularly of children. I have known its bite to be followed by 

 very serious consequences, the patient not recovering for nearly a 

 year " {Proc. Acad. Nat. Set Phila., 1855, p. 404). 



Mr. Uhler has described the insect as a very showy species, of a 



pitch-brown or black color, with 

 red patches on the sides of the 

 prothorax, spots of the same 

 [f*\^ color at the base and apex of 

 the wing-covers, and bands on 

 the sides of the abdomen. It 

 is rather bald, most of the sur- 

 and pupa. face is somewhat wrinkled or 



rough, and the end of the scutellum is long and sharp-pointed. It 

 measures more than three-fourths of an inch in length, but specimens 

 sometimes occur which are dwarfed to about half an inch. {Standard 

 Natural History, ii, p. 280.) 



Pirates biguttatus (Say), as it has long been known, but in the recent 



list of Mr. Uhler has been 

 referred to the genus Easahus 

 Am}' ot-Serville (from the He- 

 brew, meaning a " villain ") — 

 is also capable of inflicting a 

 j^^\. severe sting, but will seldom 

 do so except from j^rovoca- 

 cc ^ '5 c tion, as the surroundings 



Fig. 47.— o, PiKATEs biguttatus ; h, Keduvius under which it is usually 

 PEEsoNATus; c, its pupa. iovLuA indicates the bed-bug 



as its principal prey. It evidentlj^ delights in human blood, but prefers 

 taking it at second-hajid. Under the generic name of Pirates it has been 

 commonly known as " the two-spotted corsair," from the two large and 

 conspicuous spots on its elytra. It is shown in Figure 47. 



Reduvius personatus (Linn.), — recently referred by Mr. Uhler to the 

 genus Opsicoetus Klug — shown also in Figure 47, is a common insect 

 often found hanging in sj)ider-webs in dwellings. It also is credited with 

 a special fondness for bed-bugs which it hunts and catches adroitly, 

 while in its larval stage, under the disguise of a covering of dust and 

 dirt completely investing it, as shown at c in the figure, and adher- 

 ing to it by a glutinous secretion. The wounds which it has been 

 known to inflict in its perfect stage with its beak, are said to be very 



