Repobt of the State jEntoiwlooist. 2§1 



and tlie swelling and irritation wbicli result from it, will sometimes 

 last a week. In very weak and irritable constitutions it may even 

 prove fatal " {Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., for Sept., 1885, p. 404). In 

 consideration of its severe sting-. Dr. LeConte, believing it to be an 

 undescribed species, gave it tbe appropriate name of Beduvius pungens. 

 The following is bis description of tbe species: 



Beduvius pungens. Black, sbining, wings opaque. Head a little 

 bairy, antennse yellowisb-brown, sligbtly bairy, first joint sborter 

 tban tbe bead, second, fourtb and fiftb much longer, sub-equal, tbird 

 very small. Tborax sligbtly margined, stronglj^ constricted in tbe 

 middle, tbe anterior portion rounded and longitudinally sulcate, tbe 

 posterior portion transverse. First paii: of legs bairy on tbe under 

 side, as are tbe tbigbs also of tbe second pair, but tbe tibiae and tarsi 

 of tbe binder legs all over. Lengtb 0.8 of an incb. 



Stinging by others of the Reduviidse. 



Tbere are several otber species of tbe family Beduviidce wbicb 

 bave similar babits to tbe above. Altbougb usually predaceous 

 upon otber insects, and not voluntarily, except witb a few exceptions 

 or in rare instances, attacking man, yet it is by no means safe to 

 handle them incautiously. Under tbe excitement of restraint, they 

 would not hesitate to use their powerful beak as a weapon of defense, 

 burying it deeply in the flesh, and at tbe same time injecting a drop 

 of a poisonous secretion which materially adds to the pain of tbe 

 wound inflicted. 



Melanolestes abdominalis (Her.-Scb.) — a congener of M. pirates, is 

 said by Glover, if handled roughly, to be capable of inflicting a 

 severe wound. Its ordinary habitat is beneath dead 

 logs, moss, and decaying vegetable material, where it 

 lies in wait for otber insects, seizing them with its strong 

 fore-legs and sucking their juices. Figure 45, after 

 Glover, represents tbe general appearance of tbe in- 

 sect. Its general color is red, witb tbe tip of its body 

 black. Stal and some otber authors bave regarded it „. , „ 



° Fig. 45. — Me- 



as identical witb M. pirates, from the general resem- lanolbstes ab- 

 blance of tbe two forms and their often occurring in dominalis. (Af- 



^ ,1 T./r -r-n -, ,^ • ^ tOr GlOVOr. ) 



company under tbe same stone. Mr. Uhler {loc. cit.), 



however, does not deem 'the evidence sufiicient for uniting them as 



one species. 



Of Conorhinus sanguisugus LeConte (shown in Figure 46), which has 

 been styled tbe " big bed-bug," and by translation of its scientific 

 name, the " blood-sucking cone-nose," it is narrated that a gentle- 

 man in Alton, 111., was once bitten by it in three places in his arm, 

 and tbe inflammation that resulted was so severe that tbe use of the 



