THE BED-BUG 287 



it looks like then, and what its power of flight may be. 

 That such a disgusting insect should add to its resources 

 the power of flight, whereby it might become increas- 

 ingly annoying by settling on the bodies of respectable 

 citizens as they walk the streets, and by regarding every 

 open window, in even well-to-do neighbourhoods, as an 

 invitation to enter, would immensely increase the loath- 

 ing with which it is now regarded in respectable society ; 

 and it is a comfort to know that no record exists of 

 winged bed-bugs having ever been met with in this 

 country. There have been reports that such specimens 

 have been seen somewhere in the East, but there appears 

 to be no authentic record of any such occurrence ; still, 

 it is well to bear in mind that such a thing is a possi- 

 bility, though most likely an exceedingly remote one. 

 If wings were present, there would probably be no cuneus 

 to the elytra. 



The acquisition of wings by insects that are usually 

 unwinged of course greatly facilitates the spread of the 

 species, which would otherwise have to trust, for extend- 

 ing the area of their distribution, to their own legs, or 

 to conveyance upon, or by means of some other animal 

 gifted with superior powers of locomotion. As the bed- 

 bug, however, has chosen to attach itself to the most 

 migratory animal in the world, and gains all the ad- 

 vantage of man's artificial as well as natural means of 

 locomotion, it would seem that a winged form is not a 

 matter of such prime importance to it as to wild species 

 that do not possess these extra advantages, and therefore 

 the mere fact of the bed-bug's parasitism probably mili- 

 tates against its occurrence as a fully developed insect. 



There is not much externally to distinguish the sexes ; 

 in both the abdomen is broad and flat, but that of the 

 male is rather the smaller and narrower of the two, and 



