THE BED VUG. 107 



<n-ow in the last-mentioned situation. They feed chiefly upon the juices of the plants on which they 

 live, and on which they run with great rapidity when disturbed; they also fly freely in bright 

 weather. A very common species on nettles is the Phytocoris tripustulatus, which is about a sixth of 

 an inch in length and of an oval form. Its general colour is yellowish, with black markings on the 

 hinder margin of the prothorax, the scutellum bright orange, and the hemelytra nearly black, with 

 three orange yellow spots on the outer margin, the hindmost of which occupies the appendix. In the 

 genus Capsus and its allies, the second joint of the antennae is thickened, especially towards its apex. 

 Capsus capillaris, which is also abundant upon nettles, varies in colour from red to black, but has 

 always a red spot in the appendix. This species is rather more than a quarter of an inch long. A 

 rather smaller species (Capsus ater) is common upon herbage ; the male is entirely black, in the female 

 the head and thorax are reddish. The genus Mir is and its allies include elongated species, which are 



found chiefly in grassy places. 



FAMILY VI. ANTHOCORma!. 



Under this title we include a number of generally minute Bugs, which show curious affinities to 

 the Lygseidae, to the Phytocoridse, and to certain species of the next family, especially the Bed Bug, 

 which, indeed, has been included in. the present group by some entomologists. They are small flat- 

 bodied insects, having antennae of four joints, with the last two generally more slender than the pre- 

 ceding ones, two ocelli, a rostrum apparently or really of three joints, and not enclosed in a furrow, 

 and elytra, when fully developed, possessing an appendix like that of the Phytocoridae. The 

 membrane has a basal cell. 1'rom which three or four short veins usually proceed. Few of the species 

 exceed an eighth of an inch in length ; the largest of our native forms (An'Jiocoris nemorum and A. 

 nemoralis) do not attain more than the sixth of an inch. They are elliptical, black, with the 

 hemelytra paler, but with dark or black markings ; the front of the head, in. most species of the 

 group, is produced between the bases of the antennae as a sort of snout. They are common on different 

 kinds of trees and bushes during the summer months, and often frequent dead branches. Other 

 species are found either all the year round or during the winter in the dead branches or under the 

 bark of trees, whilst others are to be met with among vegetable rubbish of various kinds. Although 

 so small and delicate in their structure, they appear to be predaceous in their habits, sucking out the 

 juices of other insects and their larvae. 



FAMILY VII. MEMBRANACEA. 



In this family AVC have a slightly heterogeneous assemblage of forms, which, however, are certainly 

 nearly allied to each other, and have generally been placed together by entomologists. They agree in 

 the possession of four-jointed antennae and of a three-jointed rostrum, which is enclosed in a sort of 

 channel formed by a pair of keels running down the lower surface of the head and the sternum as far 

 as the rostrum extends, in the flattened form of the body, and in having tarsi with only two joints. 

 The ocelli are generally absent. In the majority the antennae are thickened or clavate at the extremity, 

 but in the Bed Bug and some allied species the third and fourth joints are more slender than the first 

 and second. 



The Bed Bug (Acanthia lectularia), which is only too well known to most people, besides the 

 character of the antennae just mentioned, is further distinguished by the rudi- 

 mentary condition of the wings, the hind wings being altogether absent, and the 

 hemelytra represented only by a pair of little convex organs, like small shells, 

 situated just behind the prothorax. Although treated as a British insect, it 

 does not appear to have been always an inhabitant of that country, but to have 

 made its way there about the beginning of the sixteenth century. Even now 

 there are many out-of-the-way places even in England where the insect is still 

 unknown. The notion that it was introduced and spread by the importation of 

 timber from America seems to be quite imfounded, as the Bed Bug was certainly 



/ lihi* .lil ii. 



known to the ancients, and is mentioned by both Greek and Roman authors. 



Three other British species have been described as inhabiting the dwelling-places of certain animals 

 and feeding on their blood ; A. columbaria attacking Pigeons, A. hirundinis found in Martins' nests, 

 and A. pipistrelli feeding on Bats. The first of these is very near A. lectularia and may not be 

 distinct. A few more species are known from different parts of the world. 



