240 MANUAL OF NATUKAL HISTORY. 



21. Family. — Plume -Moths (Alucitidse). Antennae 

 long, slender, setaceous ; proboscis long and 

 spiral ; body elongated ; wings horizontal in 

 repose, cleft into narrow, feathered rays ; legs 

 long and slender. Caterpillars clothed with 

 long hairs. 



BUGS. 



Among the members of this Order many singular 

 and strange forms are to be met with. They abound 

 in gay and lively colours, in which, perhaps, they are 

 exceeded by few of the Insect-Tribes. Green, gold, 

 purple, scarlet, and similar brilliant hues frequently 

 adorn them, as in the Coleoptera, their assemblage, 

 and bold contrasts being very similar in both Orders, 

 Many of these insects live chiefly in the water, 

 having greatly depressed bodies, and their legs 

 formed into natatory organs ; others run upon the 

 surface of the water, as the little Velia currens, 

 which may be seen during the summer months 

 in great numbers about our rivulets and ditches. 

 But it is upon plants that the majority are to 

 be found, and from which they draw their nour- 

 ishment, piercing them and extracting the fluids ; 

 a few attack man, as the common bed-bug (Cimex 

 leetularius), and some suck the juices from other 

 insects. We observe in them a fine adaptation for 

 drawing nourishment in this manner; the mouth 



