THE REDUVllDvE. 123 



the most rapacious. Their very aspect seems to indi- 

 cate predatory instincts: their small head, prominent 

 eyes, frequently short, robust,, and raptorial anterior 

 legs, and lengthened posterior ones, combined with a 

 compact but long body, convey an idea of agility and 

 strength, which seem, in some respects, analogous to 

 the concurrent structure in the feline Mammalia ; and 

 many of them are equally nocturnal in their habits. In 

 one genus, in particular, the South American Cono- 

 rhinus, there is as strong a disposition as in Cimex to 

 feed upon blood ; for we find that it frequents houses, 

 and attacks sleeping persons. This genus also exhibits, 

 perhaps, the largest species of the family, the C. me- 

 gistuSj being frequently more than an inch and a half 

 long : indeed, this family contains generally large in- 

 sects. Although, perhaps, the normal number of joints 

 to the antenna? throughout the heteropterous division of 

 the Hemiptera is not to exceed five, we here frequently 

 find a divergence from it, in some extending to eight ; 

 and in one in particular, the Hammatocerus, the num- 

 ber reaches thirty, the usual second joint being sub- 

 divided into these numerous articulations. Some species 

 are remarkable for producing, under irritation, a chirp- 

 ing noise, like several of the Longicorn Coleoptera ; and 

 one, the Prionotus serratus, has been observed to give 

 an electric shock. The accuracy of this, Burmeister 

 doubts ; and, indeed, it does appear very startling ; yet 

 Messrs. Kirby and Spence mention it upon such high 

 authority, that its veracity it would be temerity to 

 impugn. Their words are*, <c The late major-general 

 Davis, of the Royal Artillery, well known as a most 

 accurate observer of nature, and an indefatigable col- 

 lector of her treasures, as well as a most admirable 

 painter of them, once informed me, that when abroad, 

 having taken up this animal (Reduvius serratus}, and 

 placed it upon his hand, it gave him a considerable 

 shock, as if from an electric jar, with its legs, which he 



* Introd. to Entora, L 108. 



