THE FLAT BARK-BUGS 



(Family Aradidce.) 



These are small, strangely-formed bugs found commonly 

 under the bark of trees, where they feed upon fungus growths. 

 They are all extremely flat, and look, as Comstock says, as if 

 they had been stepped upon. It is these insects which are often 



mistaken for bed-bugs and that 

 give rise to the idea that the 

 household pest breeds naturally 

 in such situations. The abdomen 

 is broader than the wings, and 

 frequently encloses them like a 

 frame. It is not a large family, 

 less than three hundred species 

 being known, of which about 

 thirty occur in the United States. 

 The prevailing color of these in- 

 sects is brown, sometimes varied 

 with reddish or pale markings. 

 Aradus crenatus Say is the largest 

 of the species found in this coun- 

 try, reaching nearly half an inch 

 in length, and Aradus similis 

 Say and Neuroctenus simplex 

 Uhl. are the commonest species 

 in the northeastern states. Mr. Heidemann has found the eggs of 

 the last-named species. They very closely resemble the eggs of the 

 bed-bug, having the same size, markings, and the same whitish 

 color. The life history of both these last-mentioned species 

 should be carefully worked out, as they represent different sub- 

 families. 



Fig. 1 88. — Aradus robustus Uhl. 

 (After Lugger.) 



298 



