Chap. XII.] 
BUGS. — FLEAS. 
433 
a head of dressed celery. These it moves without dis- 
persing the powder : but when dead they fall rapidly to 
dust. I regret that I did not preserve specimens, but 
I have reason to think that they are the larvae of the 
Flata limbata, or of some other closely allied species J , 
though I have not seen in Ceylon any of the wax pro- 
duced by the flata. 
Hemipteea. Bugs. — On the shrubs in his compound 
the newly-arrived traveller will be attracted by an insect 
of a pale green hue and delicately-thin configuration, 
which, resting from its recent flight, composes its scanty 
wings, and moves languidly along the leaf. But ex- 
perience will teach him to limit his examination to a 
respectful view of its attitudes ; it is one of a numerous 
family of bugs, (some of them most attractive 2 in their 
colouring,) which are inoffensive if unmolested, but if 
touched or irritated, exhale an odour that, once endured, 
is never afterwards forgotten. 
Aphaniptera. Fleas. — Fleas are equally numerous, 
and may be seen in myriads in the dust of the streets or 
skipping in the sunbeams which fall on the clay floors of 
the cottages. The dogs, to escape them, select for their 
sleeping places spots where a wood fire has been pre- 
viously kindled; and here prone on the white ashes, 
1 Amongst the specimens of this 
order which I brought from 
Ceylon, two proved to be new 
and undescribed, and have been 
named by Mr. A. White Elidiptera 
Emersoniana and Pceciloptera Ten- 
nentina. 
2 Such as Cantuo ocellatus, Lep- 
toscelis Marginalis, Callidea JStoc- 
Jcerius, &c. &c. Of the aquatic 
species, the gigantic Belostoma In- 
dicum cannot escape notice, attain- 
ing a size of nearly three inches. 
F F 
ELIDIPTERA EMERSONIANA. 
