THE BED-BUG 279 



pointing vertically downwards, or even sloping forwards, 

 when required to be used. By reason of the constant 

 presence of such a beak-like apparatus as this, the name 

 Rhynchota, i.e., beaked insects, is frequently used in- 

 stead of Hemiptera as the name of the order. Lapping 

 over the front of the beak, at the spot where it joins the 

 head, is a triangular plate, the labrum, or upper lip. 

 The beak itself consists of a three- jointed, tubular, or 

 rather gutter-shaped organ the labium the channel 

 of which is nearly closed above (i.e., on the surface 

 which is forward-looking when it is in use) by a thin 

 transparent membrane, which is easily bent aside. 

 Within the channel lie, side by side, and perfectly free, 

 four fine, straight, bristle-like organs, which, like those 

 of the gnat or mosquito, represent the mandibles and 

 maxillae of other insects. The mouth is therefore of the 

 suctorial type, and suited only for feeding on liquids; 

 but it is adapted, not solely for sucking up exposed 

 juices, as is that of butterflies and moths, nor for licking 

 them up like that of bees, but for getting at liquids 

 which are enclosed within covers or boundaries which 

 need to be pierced before their contents can be reached. 

 There is thus no power of biting, strictly so called; 

 hence the term "bug-bite," like " flea-bite," is somewhat 

 inexact. 



In the presence of this boring apparatus, the whole 

 order of bugs agrees with many of the flies, and notably, 

 as we have seen, with gnats and mosquitoes. Not- 

 withstanding the general agreement, however, there is 

 one strongly marked difference between the two orders ; 

 flies always have one pair of palpi, and sometimes two, 

 attached respectively to the maxillae and the labium, but 

 no such organs are ever found in bugs ; hence the mouth 

 in the Hemiptera is of a simpler construction than in 



