RHYNCHOTA. 
189 
mostly inhabit the warmer parts of the world, not more than about sixty species being- 
found in Europe. Their habits are not very well known. Some of the European 
species live during the winter under leaves, and when disturbed in their retreat 
make by their movements a peculiar rustling sound. In summer they are to be 
found among herbs and 
shrubs seeking their 
food, or they may some¬ 
times be seen flying 
actively in the sunshine. 
Our figures—one repre¬ 
senting a stout, strongly- 
built insect (Syromastes 
marginatus), the other 
a species {Neides tipu- 
larius ) with a body as 
slender almost as that of 
a daddy long - legs — 
illustrate what consider¬ 
able differences of form 
are met with in this 
family, even among the 
common European 
species. The Lygceidce, 
the next family of land- 
bugs, may be character¬ 
ised as follows,—antennae four-jointed, arising from below an imaginary line drawn 
from the middle of the eye to the base of the rostrum; two ocelli usually present, 
and placed close to the compound eyes; sheath of rostrum composed of four nearly 
equal joints; scutellum short 
and triangular; membrane of 
elytra traversed by four or five 
longitudinal veins. They live, 
for the most part, under stones, 
dead leaves, or moss at the foot 
of trees, where they are often 
found together in large num¬ 
bers ; and it is from their love 
of such obscure places that the 
name Lygceus has been given 
to the typical genus. They 
feed on the juices of plants or 
the dead bodies of other insects. 
A few species only show them¬ 
selves in broad daylight. The species of the genus Pyrrhocoris, and others 
associated in the same subfamily, are distinguished by the fact that they have 
no ocelli. P. apterus is a common and widely -spread European species, occasionally 
1, Pentatoma rvfipes ; 2. 
4, 
SHIELD BUGS. 
A canthosoma dentatum ; 3, Eurydcma oleraceum ; 
Aelia acuminata (nat. size). 
1, Syromastes marginatus ; 2, Larva of the same ; 3, Neides 
tipularius (nat size). 
