564 INSECTS AT HOME. 



This is rather a rare insect, but has been found in the Isle of 

 Wio-ht in the month of Auiiust. 



Its general colour is ochreous-yellow, clouded more or less 

 with brown, and sprinkled with very fine yellow down. The 

 ocelli are red. The upper part of the thorax is deeply 

 punctured in front, and just behind the anterior margin are 

 two black pits or depressions, which are well shown in the illus- 

 tration. The thighs are thickly covered with black spots, 

 which in many places coalesce and form blotches of black. 

 The abdomen is black above and brown below, with a dash of 

 ochreous-yellow. The specific name, laticeps or wide-headed, 

 refers to the remarkable form of the head, which, including 

 the eyes, is wider than the widest part ■ of the body. This 

 peculiarity is well shown in the illustration. 



On the same Woodcut, Fig. 4, is shown a much more 

 striking insect, called Phytocoris tilice, as an example of the 

 Phytocoridse. 



In these insects the antennae are very long and slender, the 

 first joint being as long as the head and thorax together. The 

 hind legs are also very long, and the head is broader than it is 

 long. The name Phytocoris is Greek, and literally signifies 

 Plant-bug. 



The colour of this insect is pale green, sometimes being so 

 very pale as to appear grey with a slight greenish tinge, and 

 being edged with a line of a darker hue. The insect is thickly 

 clothed with patches of grey down, the grey hue being produced 

 by the mixture of black and white hairs. It is rather a variable 

 species, but mostly has the sides of the thorax black, and the 

 tip of the elytra of the same hue. Sometimes the elytra are 

 rather differently coloured, having two large black spots in the 

 middle, and two smaller spots on the tip. The leathery part 

 of the elytra is spotted with black. The second joint of the 

 antennae and the tibiae are banded with black, and the re- 

 maining joints of the legs are pale yellow with black blotches. 



As its shape imports, this is an active insect, and can both 

 run and fly with agility. It is fond of fruit, and especially 

 frequents raspberries, the jviices of which it sucks through its 

 beak. No great harm would be done by this small robbery if 

 the Phytocoris woidd only content itself with abstracting juices. 

 Unfortunately, Vv'hile it sucks the liouids of the raspberry, it 



