170 ORDER HETEROPTERA. 



The cheapest, cleanliest, and best way to get rid of the bedbug, is to employ ■ saturated 



solution of salt in water. The free use of salt will drive them from the bedstead to the 

 C '\ earing, and to chinks in the wall or tloor ; whither the solution must follow them, or 

 the remedy will fail, as often happens with others that have been recommended, and for 

 the same reason. 



If all is true thai is affirmed of this bug, we cannot deny that its instincts are of a high 

 order. If, for instance, it is unable to mount the bedposts, it climbs the walls and gains the 

 oeiling, and, when it lias reached a position immediately above the sleeping individual, 

 drops down upon him. This devising of means to accomplish an end, shows the insect to 

 possess a high instinctive power. It is also a curious fact, 'and one worthy of note, that the 

 bedbug is only found in a domesticated, never in a wild state. 



The favorite food of this insect is blood, but it is not confined to this diet : hence it 

 subsists, and continues to perform the common functions of life when deprived of blood. 

 Any albuminous matters either in a wet or dry state, juices of wood, etc. etc. suffice it 

 when its favorite source of food is inaccessible. It is, however, said, upon high authority, 

 that mahogany, walnut, oak, and cedar are fatal to these bugs ; and that when enclosed 

 in a box made of either of these woods, they speedily perish. 



Their powers of increase are considerable : a female lays at four different periods during 

 the year, and produces about fifty young bugs at each litter ; so that at this rate, if she is 

 fortunate in escaping the persecution of the housekeeper, she will rear two hundred a 

 year. The young attain their full growth in eleven weeks. It requires, therefore, consider- 

 able diligence and activity to get ahead of this little foe to quiet and comfortable repose. 



Fumigation with sulphur is an effectual remedy against bugs when they infest the en- 

 tries, woodwork, or crevices of old houses, or when intolerably numerous in the cabins of 

 vessels. 



Coreidae. • 



The Coreid.-e resemble very closely the Rediviidje ; but it requires only a slight compari- 

 son of the families, to be satisfied that they are essentially different. The species of the first 

 named family are characterized by the last joint of the antenna, which is either thicker or 

 longer than the others. The joints are still four in number, and are inserted near a line 

 running from the eye to the base of the rostrum. The rostrum is three-jointed, and the 

 middle joint is the longest : in some of our species, it extends to the base of the hindlegs. 

 There is an ocellus near each round eye. The hemelytra terminate as usual in a membrane 

 more or less diaphanous, and in this family they show numerous longitudinal nerves. The 

 margins ol the abdomen are not concealed or covered by these organs, and hence they may 

 often be seen slightly projecting in the form of a sharp edge. The tarsi are tlute-joJnted. 



