546 IIEMIPTERA. 



while the ocelli are very near together, and the last antennal 

 . joint is often twice as long as the two preceding ones together. 

 Alydus eurinus Say is a widely diffused species. An allied 

 genus is Rhopalus. Another species of this gi'oup is the 

 Metapodius nasalus of Sa}-, which, in the Western States, 

 injures cherries by sucking them. 



In the last group (Pentatomidge, which we place next to the 

 Membranacei, because they are less allied to the Homoptera, 

 and are more nearly related to Cimex) the scutellum is very 

 large, often covering more than one-half the abdomen, and in 

 this respect they at least remind us of those Orthopterous 

 genera in which the same character prevails. 



This is a group of great extent, with bright colors and often 

 of large size. The head is received into the large broad, short 

 prothorax, and the body is generally ovate. The second joint 

 of the beak is the longest. 



The various species are found on shrubs, sucking the leaves 

 or often transfixing caterpillars on their beaks and carry- 

 ing them off to suck their blood at leisure. DeGeer describes 

 the eggs as being generally of an oval form, attached to leaves 

 at one end by a glutinous secretion, the other being furnished 

 with a cap, which the larva bursts off when it hatches out. 

 The larvse are more convex and less flattened than the adults. 

 " DeGeer has made an interesting observation relative to the 

 care with which the females of a species of this family (Acan- 

 thosoma grisea), found on the birch, defend their young. In 

 the month of July he observed many females accompanied by 

 their respective broods, each consisting of from twentj^ to forty 

 young, which they attended with as much care as a hen does 

 her brood of chickens." (Westwood.) 



In Pentatoma the antennae are five-jointed ; the beak is slen- 

 der, reaching to the end of the breast, with its first joint lying 

 in the furrow on the throat. The scutellum is two-thirds the 

 length of the abdomen. Pentatoma tristigma Harris has a 

 series of three or four black dots on the under side of the 

 abdomen, of which the posterior one is largest. It is seven- 

 twentieths of an inch long. Pentatoma ligata Harris is a large 

 green species, widely edged all around, except the head, with 

 pale red. 



