NATURE STUDY LESSONS. 139 



the books on insects have been studied and museums vis- 

 ited. 



On land there are many kinds of Hemiptera, or bugs, 

 and they vary greatly in appearance and habits ; but all 

 have the sharp, jointed beak, which, when not in use, is 

 bent underneath the head and reaches back between the 

 front pair of legs. They are for the most part small in- 

 sects, and as a rule are not so well adapted to a child's 

 collection as are the beetles, grasshoppers, butterflies and 

 moths. There are a few families of the land-bugs, how- 

 ever, which are of some considerable size, although none 

 approach the Belostomid^ in that respect. 



While many of the bug kind injure growing crops, the 

 members of several families live by catching other insects 

 and sucking the juices from them. It is not an uncom- 

 mon sight in summer to see a bug with a squirming cater- 

 pillar impaled on its sharp beak. Even those that live on 

 the juices of plants do much good by destroying rank veg- 

 etation which, especially in warm countries, would soon 

 disturb what is called "the balance of nature" if un- 

 checked. But that is something one can understand bet- 

 ter as one gets older, and comes to know about oxygen 

 and carbonic acid gas and such things. 



In any collection of Hemiptera there are almost certain 

 to be found vSome Assassin-bugs and some Ambush-bugs, 

 There are more than one hundred American species of the 

 former family, and they are found almost everywhere, 

 roaming over plants and trees, in the open fields, and even 

 in houses, in basements and rooms that are little used. 

 They are strongly built, fierce-looking bugs, and their 

 beak has only three joints, as can readily be seen with a 

 pocket lens. The Assassin-bugs belong to the family Re- 

 duviidse. 



There is often found in flowers, where it is watching for 

 its prey, a greenish bug with a black band across its very 



