OUTLINES OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



Ill 



matter, with short filaments around the anterior end and sides and sev- 

 eral long ones at the tail. One of the Coccidse (Coccus cacti} is the 

 insect so well known as "cochineal," which, until the invention of the 

 aniline dyes, was the source of the beautiful red and crimson colors so 

 much used in the manufacture of textile fabrics. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

 Order HEMIPTERA. Sub-Order PARASITICA. 



HUMAN AND CATTLE PARASITES. 



[Fig. 44.] 



The Short-nosed Ox-louse (Hamatopinus eurysternus) after Osborne. a. 

 female ; b. rostrum (beak) ; c, under surface of last joint of male ; 

 e - egg ; /. surface of egg, all greatly magnified. 



In this Sub-order we find the most repulsive and annoying of all 

 insects the true parasites of mammals, not excepting man. The gen- 

 eral structural characters are depicted with great exactness in the 

 illustration, Fig. 44. 



The true lice are all very small insects, which never acquire wings. 

 They remain close to the skin and suck the blood of the animals in- 

 fested, causing great discomfort and irritation by their presence and 

 their innumerable punctures. They are the result of neglect and squalor, 

 and on cattle and horses indicate a very unthrifty physical condition. 

 The proboscis is merely a fleshy prolongation of the front of the head, 

 at the end of which are a pair of extremely sharp lancets, which are 

 retracted within the head when not in use. At the base of these, as 

 shown at &, in the figure, is a rosette of sharp, recurved hooks, which, 



E 8 



