HEMIPTERA. 
145 
fact and leave such bugs alone. But it is to members of 
this family that the expressive name given above is com¬ 
monly applied. 
This nauseous odor is caused by a fluid which is excreted 
through two openings, one on each side of the lower side of 
the body near the middle coxae. 
In this family the antennae are five-jointed ; the scu- 
tellum, although large, is less than half as long as the abdo. 
men ; and the front legs are not fitted for digging 
(Fig. 178). 
Some species of this family feed upon other 
insects, and so are very helpful to the farmer, one 
species especially being a gallant fighter against 
the potato-beetle. Other species feed entirely 
upon vegetables, while others live upon both Fl s t j n k_ 7 bujT A 
vegetable and animal matter. 
The Harlequin Cabbage-bug or Calico-back, Murgantia 
histronica (Mur-gan'ti-a his-tron'i-ca), is very destructive to 
cabbages, radishes, and turnips in the Southern States and 
on the Pacific coast. It is black with bands, stripes, and 
margins of red or orange or yellow. The full-grown bugs 
live through the winter, and in the early spring each female 
lays on the under surface of the young leaves about twelve 
eggs in two parallel rows. The young bugs arc pale green, 
with black spots. They mature in a few days, so there are 
many generations in one season. It is difficult to find a 
remedy for this pest, but much can be done by placing 
cabbage and turnip leaves on the ground in early spring, 
and thus trapping them when they first come out of their 
winter quarters. 
Family Cydnid^E (Cyd'ni-dae). 
The Bur rower-bugs. 
These are oval, rounded, or elliptical bugs, with five- 
jointed antennae; with the scutellum large, but less than 
11 
