TRUE ORTHOPTERA 



3155 



Syromastts marginatus ; 2. lyarva of the same ; 3. Neides tipularius. 

 (Natural size.) 



inhabit the warmer parts of the world, not more than about sixty species being 

 found in Europe. Their habits are not very well known. Some of the European 

 species live during the winter under leaves, and when disturbed in their retreat 

 make by their movements a peculiar rustling sound. In summer they are to be 

 found among herbs and shrubs 

 seeking their food, or they may 

 sometimes be seen flying ac- 

 tively in the sunshine. Our 

 figures one representing a 

 stout, strongly-built insect 

 (Syromastes marginatus}, the 

 other a species {Neides tipu- 

 larius} with a body as slender 

 almost as that of the daddy 

 longlegs illustrate what con- 

 siderable differences of form 

 are met with in this family, 

 even among the common 

 European species. The Lygce- 



idce, the next family of land bugs, may be characterized as follows, antennae 

 four jointed, arising from below an imaginary line drawn from the middle of 

 the eye to the base of the rostrum; two ocelli usually present, and placed close to 

 the compound eyes; sheath of rostrum composed of four nearly equal joints; scutel- 

 lum short and triangular; membrane of elytra traversed 

 by four or five longitudinal veins. They live, for the most 

 part, under stones, dead leaves, or moss at the foot of trees, 

 where they are often found together in large numbers; and it 

 is from their love of such obscure places that the name Lygceus 

 has been given to the typical genus. They feed on the juices 

 of plants or the dead bodies of other insects. A few species 

 only show themselves in broad daylight. The species of the 

 genus Pyrrhocoris, and others associated in the same sub- 

 family, are distinguished by the fact that they have no ocelli. 

 P. apterus is a common and widely-spread European species, 

 occasionally met with in Britain, which may be known by 



Phvrrhocons apterus (three . 



times the natural size). its red and black colors, and the want of hind-wings, as well 

 as of a membranous part to its elytra. The plant bugs (Phy- 



tocorid<z} have the following characteristics: Head triangular in shape, tricarinate 

 above, and without ocelli; antennae long, four jointed, with the second joint 

 longest, and the last two very slender; rostrum four jointed, resting against the 

 under side of the thorax, and almost reaching to the end of it; tarsi three jointed; 

 elytra with an appendix, or small angular piece, divided off by a transverse suture 

 from the rest of the coriaceous part of the elytra, and coming between it and the 

 membrane. This family is well represented in temperate regions, and about three 

 hundred European species are known. They are mostly soft-bodied, fragile bugs, 



