HEMIPTERA. 429 



bug) is now divided into forty or more subgenera. We all know but too 

 well that of CiMEX proper. 



In Cimex proper the body is very flat, but the antennoe terminate ab- 

 ruptly in the form of a seta. 



C. ledularius, L. It is pretended that this Insect, vulgai-ly termed the 

 Bed-hug, did not exist in England previous to the fire of London in 1666, 

 and that it was transported thither in timber from America. With respect 

 to the continent of Europe, however, we find that it is mentioned by 

 Dioscorides. It has also been asserted that this species sometimes acquires 

 wings. It likewises harasses young Pigeons, Swallows, &c.; but that which 

 lives on these latter birds appears to me to be a different species. 



FAMILY II. 



HYDROCORIS^. 



In our second family of the Hemiptera, the antennae are inserted 

 and concealed under the eyes; they are shorter than the head, or 

 hardly as long. 



All these Insects are aquatic, carnivorous, and seize others with 

 their anterior legs, which flex on themselves and act as pincers. 

 They sting severely. 



Their tarsi present but one or two joints. Their eyes are in ge- 

 neral remarkably large. 



Nepa, Lin. 

 Or the Aquatic Scorpions. This genus is now variously divided. In 



Nepa proper, the anterior tarsi have but one joint, and the four posterior 

 ones two, and where the antennse appear forked. The rostrum is curved 

 beneath; the coxae of the two anterior legs are short, and their thighs much 

 wider than their other parts. 



Their body is narrow and elongated and almost elliptical. Their abdomen 

 is terminated by two setae which enable them to respire in the oozy and 

 aquatic localities at the bottom of which they live. Their eggs resemble the 

 seed of a plant of an oval figure, crowned with a tuft of hairs. 



The other subgenera of theiVepirfes are Galgulus, Naucoris, Belostoma, &c. 



The others — Notonectides — have their two anterior legs simply curved 

 underneath, with thighs of an ordinary size, and the tarsi pointed and 

 densely ciliated, or similar to those of the posterior ones. Their body is 

 almost cylindrical or ovoid, and tolerably thick or less depressed than in the 

 preceding Insects. Their posterior legs are densely ciliated, resemble oars, 

 and are terminated by two very small and I'ather indistinct hooks. They 



