94 THE INSECT WORLD. 



"These animals," says Moquin-Tandon, in his " Zoologie 

 Medicale," "do not draw up the sanguineous fluid by suction, 

 properly so-called, as leeches do. The organisation of their 

 buccal apparatus does not allow of this. The hairs of the 

 beak applied the one against the other exercise a sort of alter- 

 nate motion, which draws the blood up into the oasophagus, very 

 much in the same manner as water rises in a chain pump. This 

 rising is assisted by the viscous nature of the fluid, and above 

 all, by the globules it contains/' The part of the skin which the 

 bug has pierced, producing a painful enough sensation, is easily 

 recognised by a little reddish mark, presenting in its centre a 

 dark spot. Generally a little blister raises itself on the point 

 pierced, and sometimes, if the bug-bites are numerous, these 

 blisters become confluent, and resemble a sort of eruption. 

 These disgusting insects lay, towards the month of May, oblong 

 whitish eggs (Fig. 71), having a small aperture, 

 through which the larva comes out. The larva 

 Fi 71 Egg of diifers from the insect in its perfect state, in its 

 Bug.magnined. colour, which is pale or yellowish, and in having no 

 elytra or wings. This insect exists in nearly the whole of Europe, 

 although it is rare or almost unknown in the northern parts. 

 The towns of central Europe are the most infested by this 

 parasite, but those of the north are not completely free from 

 its presence. The Marquis de Custine assures us that at St. 

 Petersburg he found them numerous. It is found also in Scotland 

 and is very rare in the south of Europe ; it is seldom seen in Italy, 

 where it is, however, replaced by other insects, more dangerous, 

 or more annoying. 



It has been said that the bug was brought into Europe from 

 America, but Aristotle, Pliny, and Dioscorides mentioned its 

 existence. It is certain that it was unknown in England till 

 the beginning of the sixteenth century. A celebrated traveller, 

 a Spanish naturalist, Azavra, has remarked that the bug does 

 not infest man in his savage state, but only when congregated 

 together in a state of civilization, and in houses, as in Europe. 

 From this he concluded that the bug was not created till long 

 after man, when, after many centuries had elapsed since his appear- 

 ance on the globe, men formed themselves into societies, into 



