CLINOCORIS 



763 



Definition. — Clinocoridae with the anterior margin of the thorax 

 ^ strongly excavated and with prominent lateral angles. 



Remarks. — There can be no doubt that originally bugs fed upon 

 vegetable juices, and that it is only within geologically recent periods 

 that they have taken to blood. Thus the field bug, Lyctocoris 

 campestris, which is found under stacks of corn in Europe, may find 

 its way into barns and stables, and will then attack horses and 

 cattle, though under normal circumstances it would merely suck 

 vegetal juices. The relationship to bats is interesting, as apparently 

 the family is essentially a family of bat parasites. 



Type Species. — Clinocoris lectularius (Linnaeus, 1758). 



Other Species. — C. rotundatus Signoret, 1852; C. ciliatius Evers- 

 mann, 1841 ; C. pipisirelli Jenyns, 1839 (spreads Trypanosoma vesper- 

 tilionis); C- columharius Jenyns, 1839; C. fcedus (vary rare); 

 C. dissimilis ; C. improviso (very rare) ; C. pelosellus (America) ; 

 C. peristevcB. 



C. honeti Brumpt, 1910, of our previous editions becomes Ltj^^o- 

 cimex honeti (Brumpt, 1910), and C. inodoms of previous editions 

 becomes Hcematosiphon inodorum, which is found on fowls and may 

 enter dwellings. 



Clinocoris lectularius Linnaeus, 1758. 



Synonyms. — C. lectularius Merrett, 1667; Cimex lectularius 

 Linnaeus, 1758; Acanthia lectularius Fabricius, 1794. 



Definition. — Clinocoris with short, broad head, with two promi- 

 nent eyes, but no ocelli; antennae four-jointed, apical joints slender; 

 elytra rudimentary and lie over the metathorax; prothorax semi- 

 lunar, with extended anterior angles; abdomen uncovered, with seven 

 segments and an eighth anal appendage; legs slender, anterior tibia 

 twice as long, and posterior three times as long as the tarsi, which 

 are three-jointed; proboscis flexed into a groove beneath the head 

 and prothorax. 



Historical.^ — -The bed bug was well-known to the ancient peoples 

 of Asia and also to the Romans, who called it Cimex. It seems to 

 have come to Europe from the East, and to have reached Germany 

 in the twelfth century, England about 1500, while Thomas Moffat 

 says it was recognized in London in 1503 — but then he was writing 

 one hundred years after the event. Originally it was known as 

 the wall-louse or chinch, and the term ' bed-bug ' is apparently of 

 recent origin. Both males and females suck blood, and are suspected 

 of spreading Obermeyer's relapsing fever. 



Morphology. — It is reddish-brown in colour, with short, broad 

 head carrying two eyes, two antennae composed of four segments, 

 of which the first and second are stout, and the third and fourth 

 slender. The mouth consists of a proboscis, which is composed of 

 an upper part — the labrum — which is small, and a lower curved 

 portion. This is large and jointed — the labium — inside which 

 are four stylets, the two outer being the mandibles, and the two 

 inner the maxillae. There are no palpi. The prothorax is semi- 



