NOTES ON THE ANATOMY OF THE BED BUG, 
{ACANTHIA) LECTULARIA LT * 
(With special reference to uncorrected errors of previous investigators.) 
By C. hay MURKAY, D.Sc. 
The Free Public Museums, Liverpool. 
(With Plates XXII and XXIII and 40 Text-figures.) 
Introduction. 
In these days of close research into the activities and the anatomy 
of various insects, it is surprising that the structure of the common, 
indeed almost ubiquitous. Bed Bug, Acanthia (Cimex) lectularia, has 
so long escaped the thorough investigation which is called for by the 
standards of modern science. 
Dr Leonard Landois, Assistant in the Anatomy and Physiology’ 
Institute of the University of Greifswald, has long held the field as 
the “ authority ” on the subject. As, however, his treatise Anatomie 
der Bettwanze was published so far back as 1868-69, it was more than 
likely that the inevitable inferiority of his appliances to those now 
at the command of the investigator, must have landed him in errors 
which could now be avoided. The writer therefore decided to do 
the whole research work de novo, without reference to what had pre¬ 
viously been done by others, so that his conclusions would be based 
on personal observation with no bias from suggestion. This being 
done, he succeeded, after much trouble, in obtaining Landois’ publica¬ 
tion (1st half) in the original German, which does not seem to have 
been translated into English, and found that his expectation had been 
correct. Owing, probably in some degree to the lack of a microtome, 
^ The more outstanding discrepancies between Landois’ work and that of the writer 
were laid before the Association of Economic Biologists, whose meetings were held in the 
University of Liverpool on December 31st, 1913. Prof. R. Newstead read the paper on 
behalf of the writer. 
