594 



A irriCULATA. 



i:iiA r-i i.v. 



THE NEPA CINEREA. 



Iiinder Ifi^s, wliicliaro. oxtondod on o.-idi snlc ol" lliciii like oars, llcncctlic Notonecta, N.glauca^ 

 i>; i^t' no rally known as tlio Bmit-Flij. 'Hicy carry the air required for their respiration in a space 



left for til is purpose between the wings and the 

 liuik. They are very active and predaceous 

 animals, and when captured, some of them often 

 inllict a painful wound with their powerful ros- 

 trum. Several species may be met with in al- 

 most any piece of water. In tliis country they 

 are called Back-Sivimmers. 



In another family, the Nepina, the head is 

 small and triangular, and generally consider- 

 ably narrower than the thorax. Their legs 

 are generally less distinctly formed for swim- 

 ming than in the preceding group, but the 

 anterior pair are converted into powerful raptorial organs ; the Nepina, although much slower 



in their movements, being quite as predaceous in 

 their habits as the Notonectida. The Nciya cinerea 

 is a European example of this family, which may 

 be met with there in every pond. We have several 

 species in this country. 



In the Gcocores, or Land-Bugs, for which Mr. 

 Westwood has proposed the name of Aurocores^ 

 Air-Bugs, as more appropriate, some of the spe- 

 cies inhabiting the surface of the water, the an- 

 tennas are never concealed, and the legs are always 

 formed for running. When disturbed or irritated, 

 most of them emit a most oftcnsive odor. These 

 insects form nine principal groups, of which the first four have the rostrum of three joints, 

 while in the remainder this organ is composed of four articulations. The species with a three- 

 jointed rostrum are for the most part predaceous in their habits, while those with four joints 

 generally feed upon vegetable juices. To the Geocores belongs the Bed-Bug, Cimex lectularius, 

 which is said, though without sufficient authority, to have been introduced from America into 

 Europe, in timber. The Squash-Bug, Corcus iristis, well known for its disgusting odor, and its 

 destruction of pumpkin and squash vines, is a near relative, as it should be, of the bed-bug. 



The Scufata include some brilliant insects, but those best known in our country belong to 

 the genus Pentaloma, which are found on berry-bushes and strawberry-vines, and often impart 

 their offensive smell to the fruit. The Callidece of hot climates rival the butterflies in their bril- 

 liant golden-green, spotted with black. 



THE HOMOPTEKA. 



The Ilomoptera form three great groups or tribes — the Coccina, Phjtophthiria, and Cicadaria — 

 composed of numerous insects, the history of some of which is still very imperfectly known. 



THE COCCINA. 



Of these the tarsi have only one joint. The males are furnished with two wings with a few 

 straight nervures; they are destitute of a rostrum, and pass their pupa stage in a state of repose. 

 The females are destitute of wings, possess a rostrum, and appear to undergo no metamorphosis 

 whatever. Of these insects there are several species, some of which are of great commercial 

 importance. The finest red dyes known to our maimfacturers are derived from these creatures. 

 The Lecanium ilicis, which inhabits the ilex, or ever-green oak of the countries round the Medi- 

 terranean, was employed for this purpose by the ancient Greeks and Romans, as it is still by the 

 Arabs; and until the introduction of the Mexican cochineal, another species, the Porpkyrophora 

 Polonica, which lives on the roots of the Scleranthus p>erennis in Central Europe, was much used 



