ACANTHIA LECTULARIA. 85 



Family 5 GEOCERES. Land-Bugs. 



Corpus latum, planum, parvum ; antennae filiformes aut setosce, 

 liberce, cylindrice articulates ; capite longiores. Rostrum in capitis 

 apice incipiens, geniculaturri, usque ad finem thoracis profectum. 

 Ala 4 varice ; pedes ambulatorii tequales, spinosi. Odore fcetido, 

 coloribus saepissime perpulchris instruct a. Sub-familite permultae. 



Sub-Family 3 ACANTHIDA = Soft Bugs. 



Rostrum three-jointed ; tarsi without arolia. 



Body soft ; head and body flat, horizontal, longish ; eyes small, 

 without ocelli ; rostrum short, concealed beneath the throat ; 

 antenrise short, clavate, of half the length of the body (not 

 reaching beyond the breast) ; wings membranous and veined, or 

 wanting ; prothorax, abdomen, and wing-cases with membranous 

 processes; legs weak, thin; the anterior sometimes raptorial. 



1. The common Bed-Bug (Acanthia lectularia). 



Body ferruginous brown, somewhat hairy; head distinctly 

 separated ; thorax of one joint, with a tubercular pronotum, and 

 one pair of feet ; on the back with two small tubercles (the rudi- 

 mentary wings) ; number of ventral segments nine, which run out 

 in a point behind. 



Upon the eggs, Leuckart speaks as follows : " They are elon- 

 gated (i'"), cylindrical, and of nearly uniform breadth Q'"), 

 rounded off at the hinder extremity, bent forwards in the direc- 

 tion of the dorsal surface, and furnished with a flat operculum, 

 which is surrounded at the margin with an annular screen, and is 

 incorrectly ascribed by Meissner to the inferior pole of the egg. 

 Chorion firm, structureless, and smooth ;" whilst De Geer and 

 Dufour describe it as covered with points. Tubercles only make 

 their appearance upon and round the margin of the operculum ; 

 but these, as in the family of the Reduvince, stand on the inner 

 surface of the egg-membrane. This inner surface is adapted for 

 the reception of air, in the same way as in the Reduvince, by thin, 

 perpendicular, separate canals. The surface of the operculum is 

 covered by a delicate lattice-work, the ridges of which circum- 

 scribe tolerably regular spaces (^ //x ), and are most developed 



