198 NATURAL HISTORY. [cH. XI. 



habitant of our dwellings. It prowls about in dis- 

 guise, at night, and, among other insects, shows it- 

 self the uncompromising enemy of the loathsome 

 bed-bug. Kirby thinks it ought on this account to 

 be encouraged ; but its own bite, as painful as the 

 sting of the bee, and its supposed power of com- 

 municating an electric shock on the slightest contact, 

 would render the remedy somewhat worse than the 

 evil. Tn its three states of grub, nymph, and winged 

 insect, it is ever on the look out for food. Being 

 slow of motion, though capable, like a crab, of 

 walking backwards, sideways, or forwards, it is 

 obliged to entrap its prey by masking itself: hence 

 its cognomen, " personatus." Knowing that the 

 insects for which it is on the hunt are accustomed 

 to the sight of dirt, cobwebs, flue, and such other 

 materials as are usually found in the habitations of 

 man, the reduvius piles upon itself bits of hair, flour, 

 down of feathers, sawdust or plaster, so as to en- 

 ^arge its own dimensions to twice or thrice the na- 

 tural size ; and thus accoutred it is scarcely to be 

 recognised by its prey, or by its own enemies, as 

 any thing but a ball of flue. When it sees a bug, or 

 spider, or any soft-bodied insect, it approaches its 

 destined victim with the most guarded caution. 

 Sometimes the little lump of gathered dust seems to 

 be blown about the room in a zig-za^ direction : 

 sometimes it is puffed into the air, and falls as if a 

 chance gust had acted on it. These motions, how- 

 ever, are any thing but unintentional. After stealth- 

 ily sideling, or making little leaps, followed by 

 intervals of motionless repose, the better to deceive 

 its prey, the creature at last contrives to secure, 

 paralyze, and suck its victim's juices to the very 

 last drop. When it has acquired the wings of its 

 perfect state, it doffs its cassock, and boldly flies 

 about without disguise. 



The flea is another of our pests, yet it has been 

 domesticated by some curious persons. Thus, the 



