315 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



HETEROPTERA. 



THE order Heteroptera has already been partially de- 

 scribed with the Homoptera, to which it is very nearly 

 allied. 



It contains some well-known insects, both aquatic, as 

 the Water Boatmen (PI. XIII., fig. 1) and Water Scor- 

 pions (PI. XIIL, fig. 2), and terrestrial, as the beautifully 

 coloured Plant Bugs (PI. XIII., fig. 6), and the less 

 attractive Bed Bug ; besides some, as the slender, active, 

 long-legged black Gerris (PI. XIII., fig. 3), which, 

 running and dancing on the surface of the water, can 

 hardly be called " terestrial," though certainly not belong- 

 ing to the aquatic section. 



The characters of Heteroptera, and those in which it 

 differs from Homoptera, are as follows : 



The wings are always dissimilar, the fore-wings being 

 thick and horny at their fore-part, and membranous at 

 the hinder part ; the hind-wings clear and membranous 

 throughout, and often of exceeding delicacy. 



The proboscis springs from the fore-part of the head, 

 instead of, as in Homoptera, from that part nearest the 

 throat. When at rest it lies flat in both orders, pointing 

 towards the abdomen. It is sometimes very long, but in 

 predaceous species is generally short and strong. 



The antennae consist of from four to five joints, and 



