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ASSASSIN-BUGS. 33 
body and legs thicker. The front coxe are shorter, never more 
than two or three times as long as broad. 
Sinea diadema Fab. (Fig. 24). 
This is a common insect which in the south is well known 
as eating or rather sucking the juices from the very destructive 
cotton caterpillars, hence is very beneficial wherever it occurs in 
large numbers. It is also very fond of the canker-worms, for 
which it deserves credit. Here we have also a very similar 
and allied species, the Acholla multispinosa DeG., which is most 
frequently found in and among the flowers of the golden rod, 
where it lies in ambush for all kinds of passing insects, upon which 
it feeds. It is by no means very particular about its food, taking 
with the same readiness a. bad smelling bug, a caterpillar, fly, 
moth, and even such insects as bees and wasps. For this reason 
it is not a friend of bee-keepers, and near bee-hives it should 
be kept in check as much as possible. 
Prionidus cristatus Linn. (Wheel-bug). 
This is a more southern bug. It is shown in the different 
stages in Fig. 25, which well illustrates the life-history of such 
an insect. The six-sided masses of eggs, containing about 70 
eggs or more, are deposited on the bark of trees, on fence rails, 
out-houses, and other places, and are well protected by a pe- 
culiar glossy and sticky coat of varnish. The peculiar jug-like 
shape of the eggs is also shown. The young insects or nymphs 
are blood-red, with black marks; they resemble the adults both 
in shape and habits, as they feed upon all other insects they are 
able to master, not even sparing their own brothers and sisters. 
“They kill their prey by inserting into it their proboscis, which 
ejects a most powerful poisonous liquid into the wound. The 
victim thus pierced dies in a very short time. They then leis- 
urely suck out the juices and drop the empty skin. The perfect 
insect is of a gray color, and has a high semi-circular ridge or 
projection on the crest of the thorax.” (Glover.) Both sexes 
are formidable blood-sucking insects, not at all hesitating to 
punish a person for sitting next to their favorite trees. The 
