434 THE BU(5. 



Thefe eggs, when viewed with a microfcope, prefent 

 lingular varieties of configuration : Some are crowned 

 with a row of fmall hairs ; others wear a circular fillet; 

 and the greater number have a cappice, which the larva 

 pufhes ofF when it burfls open the egg. Releafed by na- 

 ture from their prifons, the young overfpread thofe plants 

 upon which they feed, extradling, by means of the roft- 

 rum, thofe juices which are proper for their nourifh- 

 ment. Even in this ftate, the larvse begin to renounce 

 their gramenivorous and peaceable habits ; fome of them 

 are voracious in an eminent degree, and fpare no fmall 

 animal that comes in their way *. 



This feems indeed but a prelude to that ferocity which 

 thefe creatures difplay in their perfe£l ftate : Then they 

 deflroy caterpillars, flies, and many of the coleopterous 

 infe£ls, which feem protected from their aflaults by the 

 hardnefs of their wings : They are then mere cannibals, 

 who glut themfelves with the blood of every animal, not 

 excepting even thofe of their own genus. 



The cimex hiofciami of Linnceus, or hen-bane bug, 

 from its refidence on the plant that bears that name, is 

 defcribed by Ray under the appellation of the fmall er 

 wood bug. Its body is of an oblong and narrow; 

 ihape : Above, the infe£J; is red, variegated with black 

 fpots f . 



Another fpecies is alfo found on the hen-bane, with 

 brown wings, decorated with white fpots ; it is defcrib- 

 ed by Linnfus in the Fauna Swecica J, and is twice the 



iize 



* Earbut's Gen. Infect, Ord. IT. Gen. 8. f Rai Infeft. p. 5 J. 



•| And his Voyage to Oelande, p. i^f 5. 



