54$ HEMIPTERA-HETEROPTERA CHAP. 



from those on the rest of the body ; they are made more con- 

 spicuous by the femora being remarkably long and thin ; it is 

 probable that they are used as ornaments. The sub -family 

 Phyllomorphides consists of about a dozen species, and is found 

 in several of the western parts of the Eastern hemisphere, one 

 species, P. laciniata, occurring in Southern Europe. This Insect is 

 of very delicate texture, and the sides of the body are directed 

 upwards and deeply divided so that a sort of basin is formed, of 

 which the dorsum of the body is the floor ; the Insect is very 

 spinose, and is thus enabled to carry its eggs, the spines helping 

 to retain them in position on the back. It is said to be the male 

 that thus carries the eggs. This species is able to stridulate, 

 and when doing so vibrates its antennae with excessive rapidity. 

 We have only about a score of species of Coreidae in Britain, 

 and none of the remarkable forms of the family are among them. 

 Fam. 3. Berytidae. Very slender Insects with the 'first 

 joint of the antennae and the femora thickened at the tips. 

 This small family was not distinguished from Coreidae by the 

 older authors. It consists of about fifty species, eight of which 

 are found in Britain. 



Fam. 4. Lygaeidae. The characters are the same as those 

 mentioned for Coreidae, except as regards the insertion of the 

 antennae ; the upper surface or face of the head is not so flat, but 

 is transversely convex, so that seen in profile the antennae appear 

 to be inserted well down on the sides of the head. The name 

 Infericornia was formerly applied to these Insects. They 

 are on the average of smaller size than the members of the 

 Coreidae or Pentatomidae, and are much less conspicuous in colour 

 and form ; a good many of the larger Lygaeids arc, however, 

 variegate with black, yellow, and red. The family is very numerous 

 in species, about 1400 being known; they are arranged in 

 thirteen sub-families ; we have about sixty species in Britain, 

 nearly all small. Eremocoris lives, when immature, in the nests 

 of the wood-ant, according to Wasmann. The family includes 

 some notorious Insect-pests. The Chinch -bug, Blissus leuco- 

 pterus, commits very serious ravages on corn and grasses in North 

 America. The Cotton-stainer, Dysdercus suturellus is also very 

 injurious to cotton in certain parts of the New World : its growth 

 has been described by Eiley, 1 who thinks a dye valuable for 



1 Insect Life, i. 1889, p. 234. 



