"THE BED-BUG 285 



one another, and the elytra then extend at least as far 

 as the end of the body, not unfrequently projecting a 

 little beyond it. 



Such is one of the commonest types of fore-wing in 

 the Hemiptera; but it is a peculiar fact that in this 

 particular order the different areas of the wing seem 

 possessed of varying degrees of stability, so to speak, and 

 nothing is more common than for one or more of these 

 parts either to be very much reduced in size or to remain 

 altogether undeveloped, not as a mere accident in some 

 one unfortunate individual, which may take place in any 

 order, but as a permanent arrangement for the whole 

 species. The membrane is the first part to be affected, and 

 in many species it either disappears entirely or is reduced 

 to a mere narrow border on the harder part of the wing. 

 The cuneus is in many cases omitted altogether, and in 

 the so-called apterous forms, of which the bed-bug is 

 one, both the clavus and corium may be reduced to an 

 indefinite extent. Now, in the bed-bug there is only 

 one scale-like piece on each side without subdivisions ; 

 this is a rudimentary corium ; clavus, cuneus, membrane, 

 are all absent. The elytron, thus 

 abbreviated, is a somewhat oval, 

 reddish-brown object (Fig. 93), very 

 deeply punctured, i.e., covered with 

 rounded pits, not perforations, FlQ . 93 ._L e ft Elytron of 

 which are technically called punc- 

 tures. Similar punctures cover the whole body, except 

 where the segments overlap, in which places the surface 

 is smooth and polished, whereby friction is lessened ; 

 the punctures on the elytra are, however, larger than 

 elsewhere, and each gives origin to a hair. 



The hind-wings of the Hemiptera are as unstable as 

 the fore-wings, and very generally, if the latter are 



