HEMIPTERA. 205 



houses. And the opinion is held that it also infests bats and 

 may be brought into our dwellings by these creatures. I have, 

 however, found no well-authenticated instance of its occurring 

 upon these animals, or of its being found in saw-dust, or under the 

 bark of trees, as has been reported. The means commonly employed 

 to destroy this pest is to wet the cracks of the bedstead and other 

 places in which it hides with corrosive sublimate dissolved in alcohol. 

 This is sold by druggists under the name of bed-bug poison. As 

 this substance is a virulent poison, it should be used with great care. 

 A safer substance to use is Pyrethrum. In case of a badly infested 

 room, it should be thoroughly cleaned ; fumed with sulphur ; the 

 walls re-papered, kalsomined, or whitewashed ; and the wood-work re- 

 painted. In travelling where one is forced to lodge at places infested 

 by this insect or by fleas, protection from them can be had by 

 sprinkling a small quantity of Pyrethrum powder between the sheets 

 of the bed on retiring. 



Sub-Family II. ANTHOCORIN^:.* 

 ( The Flower-bugs^} 



In the Anthocorlna the wing-covers are almost always fully de- 

 veloped; and are furnished with an embolium (Fig. 174). The 

 ocelli are present, though sometimes difficult to see. 

 As in the preceding sub-family, the rostrum consists .sg&f ) 

 of three segments; the antennae, of four; and the C* 

 tarsi, of three. F w.ng-Vov^ 



The species are small. They are found in a great of THphiep*. 

 variety of situations, often upon trees and on flowers, 

 sometimes under bark or rubbish. They are predaceous. 



Nearly thirty species have been catalogued from the United 

 States. The best known of these is the Insidious Flower-bug, 

 Triphleps insidiosus. This is often found preying upon the leaf-in- 

 habiting form of the Grape Phylloxera ; it is also often found in com- 

 pany with the Chinch-bug, upon which it preys, and for which it is 

 sometimes mistaken. 



Family XXVIII. 

 This is one of the large families of the Heteroptera. Nearly a hun- 

 dred genera are catalogued from North America alone. The spe< 



* Anthocorlna, Anthocoris : anthos (av&oS), a flower ; cons (KopiS), a bug. 

 f Capsidze, Capsus : capsus, a wagon-body, an enclosure. 



14 



