362 FIELD AND GARDEN BUGS. 



bug, although of the same kindred, he is also, in disguise, the 

 deadly foe, destroyer, and devourer. It was in cunning pursuit 

 of this, his darling prey, that we found him, under cover of his 

 rubbish canopy, cautiously advancing, that he might spring, 

 unheeded, on his victim; and for this reason, Reduvius per- 

 sonatus, thou masked bug-catcher, we release, and bid thee go 

 and prosper. It is in its first form of larva that this wily 

 Reduvius, or bug-catching bug, may occasionally be observed 

 engaged as above described in its usual vocation. " The 

 fierce look of this creature is then rendered," says Kirby, 

 * ' more hateful by its ocelli, or simple eyes, having a pale iris 

 round a daik pupil." Our figure 1 is that of the perfect 

 insect, which is often to be found on palings in the month 

 of May. 



Before we take our leave of the extensive and ill-famed 

 family of bug, we are bound to rescue it from that common 

 species of injustice to which we owe the proverb of " Give a 

 dog an ill name and hang him." For this purpose, leaving 

 the pent-up precincts of the city for sweet fields and flower- 

 gardens, we must introduce thee, Reader, to a numerous tribe, 

 which, though bearing the odium of the same ugly patronymic, 

 are by no means ugly creatures. On the contrary, and as if 

 they borrowed variety and elegance of form, as well as bril- 

 liancy of colour, from the plants and blossoms they frequent, 

 these plant-bugs are amongst the very prettiest of our English 

 insects. In place of the loathsome wingless platitude of our 

 domestic town torments, their " country cousins " are adorned, 

 for the most part, with exquisitely delicate and iridescent 

 wings, protected, when at rest, by membranous cases, which in 

 various species present almost every variety of gay, as well as 

 sober colouring. In short, with some general features of 

 resemblance, these respective denizens of light and darkness 

 are as much contrasted with each other, as are the darkness 

 and the light themselves. 



1 See Vignette, 



