76 INSECT LIFE. 



tributed among three suborders, which can be sep- 

 arated by the following table : 



A. Wingless Hemiptera, parasitic upon man and other mammals, with a 



fleshy unjointecl beak II. Parasitica. 



AA. Hemiptera with or without wings, but with a jointed beak. 

 B. First pair of wings thickened at the base, with thinner extremities, 

 which overlap on the back ; beak arising from the front part of 



the head (Fig. 58) I. IIeteroptera. 



BB. Wings of the same thickness throughout, and usually sloping at 

 the sides of the body ; beak arising from the hinder part of the 

 lower side of the head (Fig. 59) III. Homoptera. 



Suborder Heteroptera (Het-e-rop'te-ra). This 

 suborder includes the true bugs, of which the squash- 

 bug (Fig. 60) and the common 

 stink-bugs (Fig. 61) are well- 



Fig. 59.— Head Fig. 60.— The Fig. 61.— A 

 Fig. 58. — Head of an hete- of an homopte- squash-bug. stink-bug. 

 ropterous insect. rous insect. 



known examples. Several families of this suborder 

 are discussed in the chapters on Pond Life and on 

 Brook Life. 



Suborder Parasita (Par-a-si'ta). — This suborder 

 is represented in the United States by only 

 _ one family, the Pediculidas (Ped-i-cu'li-dae). 



This family comprises the true lice (Fig. 62), 

 which differ from the bird lice of the order 

 Mallophaga in having sucking mouth parts. 

 Abuse! The true lice live on the skin of mammals 



