HALF -WINGED INSECTS 
327 
HALF-WINGED INSECTS, OR BUGS AND FROG-HOPPERS 
BY \V. K. KIRBY, F-L.S 
The order including the Bugs and Frog-hoppers is divided into two sub-orders. There are 
also one or two small groups, sometimes treated as separate orders, and sometimes regarded 
as aberrant sections of the order, to which we shall allude later. 
The True Bugs have their fore wings of a horny texture, but generally overlapping, 
and the extremities form a transparent 
membrane, resembling that of the hind 
wings. They have a long sucking-proboscis 
curved down beneath their bodies, and 
their antennae usually consist of only four 
or five long joints. Most are vegetable- 
feeders, but some species feed on the 
juices of other insects, while a few attack 
warm-blooded animals, either casually or 
habitually. 
The first family Includes the Shield- 
BUGS. These derive their name from the 
unusual development of a part of the 
thorax called the “ scutellum.” In most 
insects it is only a small plate of no great 
importance, attached to the end of the 
thorax; but in the Shield-bugs it forms 
a great solid arch, covering the whole of 
the wings, and protecting them as the 
wing-cases protect the wings of beetles. There are only a few small species in England, but a 
great number of beautiful species inhabit warm countries, some of a brilliant blue or green 
or yellow, or spotted. Many of them are comparatively large insects, nearly an inch long, 
and resemble brilliantly coloured beetles, from which, however, they can easily be distinguished 
by the antennae, the proboscis, and the shield, the latter of which is not divided down the 
middle like the wing-cases of beetles. 
Next to the Shield-bugs, and 
considered by many entomologists as 
belonging to the same group, are 
the Pentagonal Shield-bugs, so 
called because the scutellum, though 
much smaller than in the Shield- 
bugs, is often half as long as the 
abdomen, and forms a broad triangle, 
sometimes broken at the sides, so 
as to make a five-sided plate, 
lying above the bases of the wings. 
Several green or brown species of 
this family, about half an inch long, 
are common in England among 
bushes. Many have a very dis- 
j agreeable smell, and hence they are 
called Stink-bugs in America. They 
feed on vegetable juices, and also 
frequently on soft-bodied insects. 
Photo jy J. Edwardsi [Colesbornc 
LACE-WING BUG 
elegant little insect, injurious to pear-tr^es 
Photos by IV. P. Dando, F.Z.S, 
SHIELD-BUG 
In tropical countries these bugs are 
often as large as cockchafers 
JUNIPER-BUG 
Some species of this Janiily are car’ 
niniorous as well as herhittorous 
