CHAPTER XI. 
THE HEMIPTERA. 
If we state that the order of the Hemiptera contains Bugs, that 
is to say, domestic Bugs and the Shielded Bugs, the Cigala , the 
Plant Lice, and the Cochineal Insects, every one can pretty well 
understand the general nature of the assemblage of creatures 
which is classified in it. 
The Hemiptera undergo an incomplete metamorphosis like the 
Orthoptera , and are born nearly in the same shape as the per- 
fect insects, and, therefore, they do not suffer any very great 
external changes during their development. The larvae are, 
generally speaking, only distinguished from the adults by the 
want of any appearance of wings. They undergo several changes 
of their skin, and after a particular one they appear with the rudi- 
ments of wings. The insects are then considered to be nymphs. 
After a last change of the skin the wings appear in their perfect 
state, and then the insect is considered to be adult. Their eggs 
are often very pretty, being variously ornamented and chamfered ; 
and those of some kinds are in the shape of little barrels or tubs, 
with a sort of coverlid. Those of the plant-sucking kinds are 
usually deposited in layers upon the leaves and trees. 
Many naturalists have divided the Hemiptera into two principal 
divisions, although all these insects are allied by very evident and 
natural affinities ; but it is, pehraps, as well to admit that there 
are two sections of them. In the first — the Heteroptera — the wings 
are coriaceous in that half which is attached to the body, and 
transparent in the rest, and the suckers spring from the lower 
