THE BED-BUG FAMILY 



(Family Cimicidce.) 



By more recent authors the family is called Acanthiidse, but 

 the present name is preferable. Only twelve species are known 



but the family is 

 notorious because 

 it contains the dis- 

 gusting parasite of 

 human habitations. 

 The other species 

 are all found in the 

 nests of birds and 

 act and much re- 

 semble the true 

 bed-bug. In this 

 group the insects 

 do not possess 

 wings and only 

 rudimentary wing- 

 covers are to be 

 seen. They are flat- 

 bodied, the ocelli 

 are absent and the 

 beak rests in a 



Fig. 177. — iEciacus hirundinis. (After Osborn.) 



groove beneath the head. /Eciacus Jiirundinis Jenyns is common 

 to Europe and North America and frequently occurs in this country 

 in great numbers in the nests of the common barn swallow. It 

 closely resembles the form found in houses, but is darker in color 

 and has shorter antennae. 



288 



