HETEROPTERA. 325 



narrower and more pointed. This insect is of a deep blue 

 colour, the head, thorax, and wing-cases are outlined 

 with red, a band of red runs down the middle of the 

 thorax, the scutellum has two lateral red spots and is 

 tipped with red, and a large red spot occurs at the end 

 of the horny part of each wing-case. 



Cydnus bicolor is another pretty species, roundish 

 and flat, about a quarter of an inch in length, and pie- 

 bald black and white ; the wings leave the end of the 

 abdomen exposed, showing a pattern of black and 

 yellow. 



The insects in this family are very various in colour- 

 ing, many being exceedingly beautiful, and they are 

 chiefly of large or middle size. They live principally 

 on the juice of plants, but will also prey on other living 

 insects. 



Mr. Westwood quotes a statement that six or eight 

 specimens of Pentatoma bidens (a quietly-coloured, 

 yellowish-brown species, with a sharp tooth projecting 

 on each side of its thorax), shut up in a room swarming 

 with the Bed Bug for several weeks, completely extir- 

 pated them. 



De Geer observed some females in this family accom- 

 panying and guarding their young brood as a hen her 

 chickens, or an earwig her little earwigs. 



