﻿TOLYCTENIDAE CArSIDAE 



5 6l 



them, 1 treated them as aberrant Anoplura or Lice, but there do 

 not appear to be any sufficient grounds for removing these para- 

 sites from Hemiptera-Heteroptera. The condition of their alar 

 organs reminds one of what exists in Cimex and Aepophilus, and 

 the mouth is not known to possess any very peculiar structure. 

 We have had no opportunity of making a thorough examination 

 of Polyctenes, and therefore speak with some diffidence. 



Fam. 18. Capsidae. — Moderate- sized or sin nil hugs, of delicate 

 consistence, without ocelli ; the elytra and wings usually large in 

 proportion to the body, the former with two cells {occasionally 



Fig. 274. — Helopeltis sp. East India. 



only one) in the membrane. Antennae four-jointed, the second joint 

 usually very long, the terminal two more slender than the others. 

 Tlie proboscis not received in a groove. Scutellum exposed, mode- 

 rately ht rye. Tarsi three-jointed. Female with an ovipositor 

 capable of exsertion. — This family is one of the most extensive of 

 the Hemiptera ; we have about 170 species in Britain, where 

 they are most abundant in the south. The exotic species have 

 been but little collected. Their colours 

 are usually delicate rather than vivid, 

 and are never metallic. They frequent 

 plants of all kinds, and many of them 

 skip by the aid of their wings with great 

 agility in the sunshine. The majority 

 probably suck the juices of the plants, but 

 some are known to prey on other Insects. 

 The species of the Indian genus Helo- 

 jieltis (Fig. 2 71) are remarkable by 

 possessing a knobbed spine projecting 

 Straight up from the scutellum, making 

 the individual look as if it were a specimen with a pin through 



1 Thesaurus ent. Oxoniensis, 1874, p. 197. 

 VOL. VI 2 



Ftg. 275.— Section of a stem with 

 egg of a Capsid bug allied 

 to Helopeltis (Moesa-blight). 

 x 58. (After Dudgeon.) 



