CONORHINUS SANGtilSUGUS 493 



alimentary tract of the bug. In the other it undergoes marked develop- 

 mental changes and as a result invades all the organs, including the 

 salivary glands. The fluid excreta of infected bugs, which often contains 

 flagellates, have been proved to be infective when inoculated into animals. 

 The bionomics and early stages of this important bug have been fully 

 described by Neiva, a resume of whose observations is given here. Conor- 

 hinus megistus is almost entirely a domestic insect. 

 The adults enter inhabited houses, but never those Bi nomi cs and early 



StcigGS 



which have been abandoned. In houses which are 

 old and badly kept they are to be found in cracks and holes in 

 the walls, where they lay their eggs ; the early stages, which are 

 wingless, crawl out of their resting places in the walls as soon as the 

 lights are put out and make their way to the beds of the occupants of 

 the house. The adults behave in the same manner, but as they are 

 powerful fliers they can reach people who sleep in hammocks. The 

 bite is said to be painless and to leave no mark ; this is quite unlike the 

 bite of Conorhinus rubrofasciatus, which in the case of some people 

 leaves a distinct mark for weeks. In captivity megistus feeds readily 

 during the day time. 



The egg of megistus is of a creamy white colour and is similar in 

 shape to that of rubrofasciatus. They are laid in batches of from 

 eight to twelve eggs, and as many as forty-five such batches may be 

 laid. According to Neiva they hatch in from twenty-five to forty 

 days. The larva is of a uniform light colour when it emerges, be- 

 coming darker later ; it takes its first feed from five to eight days after 

 emerging from the egg, and the second from the fifteenth to the 

 twentieth day ; it changes its skin (first nymphal stage) after about 

 forty-five days. The second moult takes place during the second or 

 third month, and the third during the fourth or sixth month. The 

 fourth moult occurs about the 190th day after the larva has hatchd out 

 from the egg ; this stage lasts at least forty-two days. Neiva states that 

 this time is the most critical period in its life, and that large numbers 

 die. After the next moult the adult stage is reached, and eight days later 

 they are ready to suck blood ; egg laying commences about the fifty-fifth 

 day after the first feed. One female kept under observation by Neiva for 

 about three and a half months laid 218 eggs in thirty-eight batches. 

 Under favourable conditions of food supply the cycle from egg to egg 

 is completed in about 324 days. 



Conorhinus sanguisugus, Lee. General colour dark brown with pink 

 streaks and spots. Pronotum with two short admedian raised pink 



