CIMICIDiE. 
703 
beneath the head (fig. 473), and the prothorax is well developed and 
sharply separated from the mesothorax, its hind margin being straight 
in C. lectularius, Linn., and 
rounded in C. rotundatus, 
Sign. (Fig. 474.) 
The notorious “bugs,” 
insects far too abundant in 
houses in India, are the sole 
common representatives of 
this family. Their origin is 
obscure, and they were 
Fig. 474— a . Cimex rotundatus and b . C. lfcc- well-known to the Greeks 
tularius. {After Patton .) and Romans ; it is possible 
that the insect was originally a parasite of birds and mammals, and in¬ 
cluded man in its hosts; it is now not confined to man, but has other 
hosts. Its distribution is wide, as it is readily carried in steamers and 
can survive long periods, it may be even a year, without food. The eggs 
are laid in cracks in the floor, in the furniture, or in any convenient posi¬ 
tion to which the female can obtain access. They are beautifully shaped 
and sculptured, and the young escape by around door at one end about 
five to ten days after they are laid. The young (fig. 476) are similar to 
the adult, but smaller, more transparent, and less darkly coloured. There 
are probably five moults, and if 
the insect is under favourable 
conditions where it can get blood 
easily, the whole life-history will 
probably occupy not more than 
two months. A meal of blood 
seems to be required before each 
moult and before egg-laying, and 
if it cannot be obtained the inter¬ 
val between the moults may be 
very greatly prolonged. When 
the insect wishes to suck blood, 
it injects liquid which is irritant Fig. 475— Cimex head from below. 
and causes a flow of blood to the 
spot on which it gorges itself. Now that so much is becoming known 
