568 



INSECTS AT HOME. 



into Enj^land, and spreading with a rapidity to which the cus- 

 toms of our ancestors t>-ave every assistance, would be distin- 

 guished by a name which signified a nightly terror. 



Being very flat and short-legged, and always walking with 

 the legs in nearly the same plane as the body, the Bug can 

 creep into very narrow crevices, and himdreds can hide them- 

 selves where there seems scarcely to be room for half a dozen. 

 In the chinks of old furniture, and especially behind the 

 wooden panels of old walls, they pack themselves so closely 



LZ\ai 



1 . Acanthia lectularia. 2. Coranns siibapterus. 3. Eednvins persoimtns. a. Acanthia 

 lectularia, fore-leg. b. Do., Antenna. c. Do., head, showing position of rostrum. 



d. Do., rostrum. 



and in such numbers that they form thick layers of living 

 insects, and the language of the carpenter in ' Punch ' is hardly 

 exaggerated when he said that if he were to take away a 

 panel, they would get up on their hind legs, and bark like dogs. 

 The eggs of this insect are veiy small, and can be inserted 



