PE PEROMI A PERAMELES. 



421 



Hi-teraptera and section Geocorisa, or land bug?, and 

 at once distinguished by the length of the upper lip, 

 and the five-jointed antennae. The details of the 

 mouth of one of these insects having been already 

 figured in the article INSECT (vol. ii. p. y.51, fig. 89), 

 we need only refer the reader thereto for a complete 

 illustration of the trophi of this family. The body is 

 generally short, oval, or rounded, or more or less de- 

 pressed ; the tarsi are three-jointed, and the antenna; 

 are filiform. The family is of very considerable 

 extent, and comprises some of the largest and hand- 

 somest species of field bugs, as the majority of the 

 Linnaean Cimices are called. 



The family comprises several principal genera, 

 namely, Scutellcra (of Lamarck, type of the family 

 ScuteUerites, Laporte), having the scutellum very 

 large and covering the body ; Pentatoma, Fabricius 

 (type of the Pentatomides, Laporte), having the scu- 

 tellum of moderate size ; Tes&eratoma, Saint- Fargeau, 

 having the antenna; four-jointed ; and Edc.isa, Fabri- 

 cius, having the metasternum porrected. These 

 genera have been greatly cut up by Laporte, Curtis, 

 and Burmeister, into minor groups, which it will be 

 unnecessary here to detail, as they rest chiefly upon 

 minute structural distinctions. Amongst the genera 

 separated from Pentatoma, the following, as consisting 

 of British species, ought not to be omitted, namely, 

 JFAia, having the head considerably elongated, and the 

 antennae covered at the base ; Cydnus, with the head 

 large, semicircular, the thorax transverse, almost as 

 broad in front as behind, and the legs very spinose. 

 They are chiefly found upon low herbage, Cimcx bicolor 

 being the type ; Acanthosoma, Curtis, having the pro- 

 sternum porrected, type Cimcx /iceniorrfioidalis ; and 

 Pentatoma, in which the thorax is much narrowed in 

 front, the sternum not porrected, and the antenna; 

 five-jointed ; the joints, however, vary considerably 

 in their relative proportions, and the divisions raised 

 thereupon are considered by Hahn, in hi.s " Wanze- 

 nartigen Insckten," as so many genera. In the genus 

 Pentatoma there are about twenty British species, 

 amongst which the following, described by Limurus, 

 are especially noticeable : Cimcx rufipes, baccarum, 

 junipcrinns, cccndcns, oleraceus, prasinus, fyc. 



In the larva state they resemble the ima^o, except 

 in wanting the organs of flight, whilst in the pupa 

 these organs are seen in the shape of rudimental 

 cases lying upon the base of the abdomen, those en- 

 closing the wings being smaller, and lying beneath 

 those which contain the wing covers. These changes 

 are accompanied by a total moulting. In all these 

 states their habits are similar, and they possess the 

 same faculties, except those of flight and reproduc- 

 tion. They feed by suction upon the sap of various 

 plants, or the juices of fruits, whilst some attack other 

 insects, even including weaker individuals of their 

 own species. The greater part emit a most disagree- 

 able odour, which they communicate to whatever 

 they feed upon. The eggs are deposited together 

 upon the leaves or stems of vegetables, being fastened 

 by means of a viscid fluid. They are disposed in 

 regular layers, and we learn from Kirby and Spence 

 that the female sits upon these eggs like a hen brood- 

 ing over her nest, a peculiarity in insect life which is 

 of exceedingly rare occurrence. 



PEPEROMIA (Ruiz and Pavon). A genus of 

 American herbaceous perennials, belonging to Pipc- 

 racece. The species are the herbaceous tribe of 

 pepper-bearing plants, the true peppers (Piper nigra, 



1 &c.) being climbing- shrubs. They are all tropical 

 plants, abounding in the hottest regions, and exclu- 

 sively found in the equinoctial zone. They grow 

 i very well in our stoves. 



PEPPERMINT is the Mcntha piperata of 

 Linnaeus, a British herbaceous plant, belonging to 

 Labiatcc, and cultivated in gardens for the druggist 

 and distiller. 



PEPSIS (Fabricius). A genus ,of hymenopterous 

 insects belonging to the fossorial aculeata, and family 

 Pompitidce, having four submarginal cells, the four 

 palpi of nearly equal length, the two terminal joints 

 of the maxillary and the last joint of the labial palpi 

 being shorter than the preceding joint. The abdo- 

 minal peduncle is short. These gigantic sand wasps 

 appear to be confined to South America, and far ex- 

 ceed in size any other species of the order to which 

 they belong. They are remarkable for the brilliant 

 velvety colours of the body, which change when held 

 in different positions. Their wings are generally 

 either of a shining blue-black or iiery red. From 

 their great size and energetic activity of motion, it 

 may be easily supposed that the effect produced by 

 their stings is no trifling matter. In their economy 

 it is most probable that they resemble the Pompilidcs 

 of our own countrv- 



PERAMELES (literally, " pouched badger"). A 

 genus of marsupial animals peculiar to New Holland. 

 The}' are animals of slow motion, but they have no 

 resemblance whatever in their structure to those 

 badgers which belong to the common placental 

 mammalia. 



The generic characters are chiefly founded upon 

 the teeth, which are the great means of distinguishing 

 the pouched animals from each other; as none of 

 those animals have horns, great differences in the 

 coverings of the body or very great in the structure 

 of the feet, by means of which we could divide them 

 into orders in the same manner as we divide the 

 other mammalia. This genus have forty-eight teeth 

 in all ; in the upper jaw there are ten incisors, two 

 canines, six false grinders, and eight true ones ; 

 in the lower jaw the number of canines and grinders 

 is the same, but there are only six incisors ; the upper 

 incisors are peculiarly formed at the ends, their ex- 

 tremities being bevelled off to a lengthened oval, with 

 the convex or trenchant end outwards ; the first one 

 is very small, and inclines inwards, the three follow- 

 ing are larger ; these, to the number of four on each 

 side, are close together ; but there follows an open 

 space between them and the fifth one, which is small ; 

 there is also an empty space behind the canine, which 

 tooth is sharp and crooked, compressed laterally ; 

 the other teeth are also peculiar in their structure, 

 but the details are tedious, and the more so, that the 

 use of. the peculiarities which they present is not 

 known ; the head of the animals is long, and the 

 muzzle pointed ; the ears are of mean length ; the 

 feet have five toes furnished with large and nearly 

 straight claws; the thumb and little toe on the fore 

 feet are sometimes little else than rudimental ; the 

 hind feet are considerably longer than the fore ones, 

 and have only four toes upon each ; the inner ones 

 are very small, and the first and second are enveloped 

 in the skin as far as the claws ; the third one is very 

 stout, and the fourth small ; the tail is not prehensile, 

 but soft and velvety, of mean length, pointed, and 

 with some fur on the under side ; the covering is of 

 two kinds, a close fur immediately on the skin, and 



