VIII 



POLYCTENIDAE CAPSIDAE 



5 6l 



them, 1 treated them as aberrant Anoplura or Lice, but there do 

 not appear to be any sufficient grounds for removing these para- 

 sites from Hemiptera-Heteroptera. The condition of their aim- 

 organs reminds one of what exists in dm ex and Aepophilus, and 

 the mouth is not known to possess any very peculiar structure. 

 We have had no opportunity of making a thorough examination 

 of Potyctenes, and therefore speak with some diffidence. 



Fam. 18. Capsidae. Moderate-sized or small bugs, of delicate 

 consistence,- without ocelli ; the elytra ml wings usually large in 

 to the body, the former with two cells (occasionally 



FIG. 274. Helopeltis sp. East India. 



<>n j u one') in the membrane. Antennae four-jointed, the second joint 

 'iixmiUij rrry long, the terminal tin> more slender than tin' others. 

 Tin' proboscis not received in a groove. Scutellum exposed, i/nx/f- 

 ,<!/,'/// large. Tarsi three-jointed. Female with an ovipositor 

 capable <>f exsertion. This family is one of the most extensive of 

 the Hemiptera ; we have about 1*70 species in Britain, where 

 they are most abundant in the south. The exotic species have 

 been but little collected. Their colours 

 are usually delicate rather than vivid, 

 and are never metallic. They frequent 

 plants of all kinds, and many of them 

 skip by the aid of their wings with great 

 ability in the sunshine. The majority 

 pn >1 iably suck the juices of the plants, but 

 some are known to prey on other Insects. 

 The species of the Indian genus Hclo- 



, . ,-p,. ,u-.x FIG. 2/5. Section of a stein with 



peltis (tig. 274:) are remarkable by egg of a Capsid.bug allied 



to 7/,/.y i. '///'; I Mfpi--.;i-l>liij;lit). 



x 58. (After Dudgeon.) 



possessing a knobbed spine projecting 

 straight up from the scutellum, making 

 the individual look as if it were a specimen with a pin through 



1 Tltcsaurus ent. Oxoniensis, 1874, p. 197. 

 VOL. VI 2 



