IIO FIELD ZOOLOGY. 



The first division of the Hemiptera is the division of 

 the disgusting parasites of many of the lower animals and 

 also of man. These are all wingless insects having only 

 small locomotor powers and living the whole life round, 

 from the eggs to the adult, on the body of the host. The 

 mouth parts are all modified to form a fleshy, sucking 

 beak; the feet have only one claw, and this is usually 

 bent at an angle which enables the pest to cling to the hair, 

 wool, or clothing of the host. The eggs are usually glued 

 to the hair or wool of the host, or deposited in creases of 

 the clothing. 



In the second division of the Hemiptera, come the 

 scale insects, the pests of nurserymen and florists. The 

 male, where this form is produced, is a winged indi- 

 vidual; while the female possesses no wings, and during 

 the greater part of her life, in most of the species, has 

 no feet. These insects have remarkable powers for pro- 

 ducing young, several broods being raised in a year, even 

 by the outdoor sorts, while the indoor, green-house pests 

 breed practically all the year round, taking advantage of 

 the artificial culture which man unwillingly gives them. 

 Various measures, such as fumigating and spraying, are 

 used against them with varying degrees of success. 

 Their most effective enemies are the ladybird beetles, 

 mentioned in a previous order. These ladybirds are 

 easily caught, and, their safety being a matter of so much 

 moment to an agricultural community, the killing of them 

 should be prevented by all means. So far as their bird 

 enemies are concerned, the ladybirds have a fairly good 

 weapon of defense in their secretion of a fluid which 

 renders them very disagreeable in taste; they can afford 

 to be so brightly colored because they taste so bad. 



There is no defensive measure against the scale 



