14 STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 



has a quite intolerable odour ; the glands secret- 

 ing this fluid are situated in various parts of the 

 body. The presence of such glands in free-living 

 Hemipterous insects is undoubtedly a protection 

 birds do not as a rule touch them. One, however, 

 fails to see the use of this property in the bed- 

 bug. At any rate, it does not deter cockroaches 

 and ants, as well as other insects, from devouring 

 the Cimex. There is a small black ant in Por- 

 tugal which is said to clear a house of these pests 

 in a few days ; but one cannot always command 

 the services of a small black Portuguese ant. 



Another remarkable feature is that the insect 

 has no wings, although in all probability its 

 ancestors possessed these useful appendages. As 

 the American poet writes : 



" The Lightning-bug has wings of gold, 



The June-bug wings of flame, 

 The Bed-bug has no wings at all, 

 But he gets there all the same I " 



The power of " getting there " is truly remark- 

 able. Man, their chief victim, has always warred 

 against bugs, yet, like the poor, bugs " are always 

 with us." I heard it stated, when I was living 

 in Southern Italy, that if you submerged the 

 legs of your bed in metal saucers full of water 



